Trumpeter Swans
What You Need To Know About
Trumpeter Swan populations
Across North America wildlife managers have divided Trumpeter Swans into three main management areas: Pacific Coast Population (PCP), Rocky Mountain Population (RMP) and Interior Population. Washington State has both the PCP and RMP areas. Western Washington is the PCP and eastern Washington is the RMP. They are divided by where they breed as well as their wintering area.
The map shows these management divisions for Trumpeter Swans in North America.
The Cascade Mountain range in Washington and Oregon forms a major geographic dividing line for both wintering and breeding Trumpeters. West of the mountains is the coastal zone which is primarily temperate and much wetter than the eastside. East of the mountains has drier, hotter summers and much colder winters. Trumpeter Swans rarely intermingle on either the wintering or breeding grounds.
As you can see from the mapped areas in gray, there is some overlap between these populations around the northern British Columbia and southern Yukon Territory. A major geographic dividing line is the Yukon River near Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Read more about each population:
Pacific Coast Population
Photo by S Wiley
Rocky Mountain Population
Photo by Gerald Plowman
Pacific Coast Population
More than half of all North American Trumpeter Swans nest, breed, or winter in this geographic area. In 2015, there were about 26,800 Trumpeter Swans in the PCP. Most of these swans winter into western Washington and southern British Columbia. A few move south in western Oregon or stay a bit farther north in southern Alaska. They migrate north each spring and 95% breed in Alaska, the rest are in western Yukon and northwestern British Columbia.
STATUS – Trumpeter Swans
The most recent PCP survey in 2015 on the Alaska breeding grounds found 26,730 Trumpeter Swans: 20,779 adults and 6,011 cygnets. The next comprehensive winter swan census will be in January 2021.
The 2020 mid-winter western Washington Swan Survey showed no increase in the total number of wintering Trumpeter Swans although their distribution around the state is shifting.
The total swans counted in summer 2015 was 25,347 in Alaska and 1,443 in Canada in western Yukon and northwestern British Columbia.
- The PCP increased by 5.5% per year from 1968-2005, and 1.5% per year from 2005-2015.
- The largest concentrations of wintering Trumpeter Swans are found in the Skagit Valley area of Washington State and in the Comox Valley area on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
ACTION:
NWSCA is committed to addressing important issues that affect Trumpeter and Tundra swan health and well fare. We have a long history and commitment to addressing lead poisoning, both shot pellets and lead fishing sinkers. We are a long time member of an international team, Canada and Washington, working to bring an end to lead shot ingestion poisoning of swans in the Northwest.
We are partnering with electric power companies to reduce swan power line collisions. This includes both private and publicly owned power companies. Swan Safe Power Lines is a common goal we all share.
Rocky Mountain Population
The Rocky Mountain Population (RMP) refers to those swans that winter in eastern Washington, and primarily breed in central and eastern Yukon, Northwest Territory, northeastern British Columbia, Alberta and perhaps as far east as southwest Saskatchewan. The only recent nesting location in Washington is at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge south of Spokane.
Trumpeters migrate through in both fall and spring, primarily along a corridor that encompasses the area from the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountains west through the Methow Valley into the Okanagon area and the wide path it creates moving south. Reports of wintering Trumpeter swans have come from the Washington/Canada border lakes/ponds to Cle Elum, Yakima and Walla Walla and points in between.
We will be adding new information on eastern Washington Trumpeter Swans as it becomes available.
Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
In 1976, the supplemental feeding and pond aeration program that began in 1968 was discontinued. This program had effectively created a resident flock with no migration behavior. The resulting dispersal of individuals that first winter and a severe drought the following year, resulted in a precipitous decline in the refuge population indicating that wintering habitat in the area is severely limiting. Several birds, mostly juveniles, failed to return at all and were never accounted for by band returns or other observation. Major causes of mortality were shooting, power line collisions, and predation.
Observers noted that for 22 years through 2009, only one trumpeter swan reliably returned to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge each winter or spring — whenever enough open water was exposed by ice thawing at the headquarters-area ponds.
This bird became known as Solo, a lone male Trumpeter. Finally, he found love in 2009 and his legacy now lives on in at least 13 swans (as of 2013) and counting. Since then two pairs nested and in 2015 only one pair nested successfully. Sadly, Solo died in 2011, likely of lead poisoning from either a lead fishing sinker or lead shot. Solo may have opened the door for the restoration of trumpeters at Turnbull with his efforts in his two successful breeding years. His legacy appears to be continuing with the swans that reside and nest there today.
During the 2019 Christmas Bird Count 13 Trumpeters were counted in the Turnbull NWR area.
In the 2020 nesting season on the refuge, there was one successful pair that nested and hatched 2 cygnets that survived and fledged. There appeared to be two additional pairs on separate wetlands, but they did not attempt to nest. One of the non-nesting pairs was accompanied by a third individual, likely a sub-adult.
For more information on the current status of Trumpeter Swans at Turnbull NWR and more about Solo click here. If you plan to visit the area, nesting swans are likely to be found in the late spring through summer months. Broods usually hatch around mid to late June.