These are Trumpeter swan cygnets who live along the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park. The Park Service placed these four young swans here recently in hopes of increasing the number of Trumpeters in Yellowstone. Since Lake Trout have eaten a lot of Cutthroat Trout, which is one of the primary food sources of the Yellowstone eagles, they have started eating the young swans. No cygnets at all survived this year. This has led to a decrease in the number of swans in the park. Hopefully these four swans will stay or return to the Yellowstone area and will be able to raise their families here.
Trumpeter swans are North America's heaviest flying bird, with males weighing about 26 lbs. It takes 100 yards of "runway" of open water for them to get airborne. They usually mate at about four years of age. The oldest known wild swan was a female who lived to be 26 years and 2 months. The oldest in captivity was 32 years old.
What do you think this swan is squawking about?
1 comment:
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