by Geoffrey Carpentier
For the last few years, we’ve had new neighbours on Elgin Pond, in Uxbridge. A family of swans moved in and each year raise their young on this small urban body of water. But where did they come from?
Historically, Trumpeter Swans roamed widely in North America, but, starting in the 1600s, market hunters and feather collectors decimated Trumpeter Swan populations, by the late 1800s. Swan feathers adorned fashionable hats, women used swan skins as powder puffs and the flight feathers were coveted for writing quills. Around 1886, they were extirpated, no longer living in the wild in Ontario, primarily due to these pressures. Sound familiar?
Flash forward to 1982, almost a century later, and a gentleman named Harry Lumsden decided he would try to reintroduce them into Ontario. Due to his diligence, knowledge, and unwavering dedication, in 1989, the first wild born Trumpeter Swan emerged at Wye Marsh Nature Centre. The parents, named Big Guy and Lady Girl, produced Pig Pen, the female cygnet. This was the beginning of great things to come! Over the ensuing years, more and more cygnets were raised, in more and more areas of the province, and today over 3,000 Trumpeters range widely. In our area alone several pairs breed annually.
Ontario hosts three species of swans annually. The Mute Swan is a non-native species which was introduced from Europe, in the mid-1800s, by large estate owners, to embellish their lavish yardscapes. Since then, they have flourished and bred widely across southern Ontario but only rarely in north Durham and the Kawarthas. The Tundra Swan is a migrant which moves through Ontario in large numbers, in early spring and late autumn, with a few birds spending the winter in Ontario. Additionally, of course, we now have the Trumpeter in our landscape.
Let’s focus on the Trumpeters now. Large birds, they are reportedly the heaviest flying bird in the world (!) and the largest and heaviest native North American bird. Males weigh in at about 26 lbs (12 kg) and have a wingspan of 6-10 feet (180-300 cm). This means they have trouble taking off from land or water and must ‘taxi’ for about 100 metres to become airborne, but once up there, they are graceful and noisy. They certainly do justice to their name, when you hear their ‘trumpeting’ call in flight.
Pairs spend the entire year together, whether wintering on the Great Lakes or breeding on small rural bodies of water, such as Elgin Pond or the Nonquon River. Sporting long, straight necks and jet-black feet and bills, they are truly a majestic sight to behold. They usually mate for life, as do any large birds. On average, it takes four or five years for them to choose their partner but when the do they are generally faithful. Courtship is exciting and demonstrative, with a great deal of noisy vocal outbursts. Nesting takes place early in the year, with the male taking much of the responsibility for the nest building which takes between 11 and 35 days. Oddly, again unlike most birds, the male doesn’t carry nesting material directly to the nest but literally throws clumps of aquatic vegetation over his shoulder towards the nest site. When enough is gathered, the actual nest construction begins!
Once laid, the four to six eggs are cared for by both parents, with the female fulfilling most of the incubation duties. Unlike most birds, the eggs, which hatch in about a month, are warmed under the feet not amongst the adult’s breast feathers. The young can swim within about two days of hatching and faithfully follow the parents around the home pond for the next three to four months, until they can fly.
Food consists primarily of aquatic plants, including leaves, stems, roots and tubers. Insects, small fish, fish eggs and crustaceans will also be taken to add protein to the diet. These foods may be augmented with leftover agricultural grain, particularly in the winter, when the water is mostly frozen.
Now is the time to see the families of Trumpeters, as they complete their breeding cycles in our lakes and rivers, throughout the area of readership of this paper.
Geoff Carpentier is a published author, expedition guide and environmental consultant. Visit Geoff on-line on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
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