Tundra swans, formerly known as whistling swans, breed along the Arctic Coasts of Alaska and Western Canada. Monogamous, adult pairs remain together throughout the year and raise up to seven cygnets each summer. Fledged within two months, the young remain with their parents through the first winter and disperse the following spring.
Most tundra swans winter on estuaries along the Pacific Coast (from Alaska to Northern California) or along the Mid Atlantic Coast. Smaller numbers head for wetland areas of the Desert Southwest and Southern Plains and some move south along the Colorado Front Range en route. Over the past few weeks, a lone immature tundra swan settled on a lake at South Platte Park; clearly he/she became separated from the family or could not keep pace due to a congenital or acquired illness. Indeed, in recent days, several birders noted that the visitor seemed to be ill and, this morning, it was dead, lying on the shore of the lake.
Tundra swans have an expected natural lifespan of 15-20 years. Obviously, our visitor did not survive his/her initial journey from the Arctic, perhaps succumbing to a genetic defect or perhaps poisoned by the careless activity of humans. A life cut short is always a sad event but when the victim is a beautiful and graceful long-distance migrant, the death seems especially tragic.
Most tundra swans winter on estuaries along the Pacific Coast (from Alaska to Northern California) or along the Mid Atlantic Coast. Smaller numbers head for wetland areas of the Desert Southwest and Southern Plains and some move south along the Colorado Front Range en route. Over the past few weeks, a lone immature tundra swan settled on a lake at South Platte Park; clearly he/she became separated from the family or could not keep pace due to a congenital or acquired illness. Indeed, in recent days, several birders noted that the visitor seemed to be ill and, this morning, it was dead, lying on the shore of the lake.
Tundra swans have an expected natural lifespan of 15-20 years. Obviously, our visitor did not survive his/her initial journey from the Arctic, perhaps succumbing to a genetic defect or perhaps poisoned by the careless activity of humans. A life cut short is always a sad event but when the victim is a beautiful and graceful long-distance migrant, the death seems especially tragic.
