Pairs of Trumpeters, who mate for life, nest in northern Canada or Alaska in April, laying 5-9 large eggs (4.5” long, 11.5 oz each). Incubation is a month and the cygnets fledge 4 months after that. Their grey plumage gradually transitions to white over the next year. Immature swans rearranging their wings in the next two photos show how their primary flight feathers are among the first to be replaced with adult white plumage.
From The Trumpeter Swan Society:
Pairs usually mate for life and return each year to the same nesting wetland, often using the same nest mound. After gaining flight in September, cygnets follow their parents to their wintering area and learn its resources and hazards while they remain with their parents through their first winter...Thry may regroup with their parents at the usual family wintering site in subsequent winters. These strong family bonds help cygnets continue to learn key migration routes and food resources from more experienced adults.
The five cygnets with the pair of adults in these pictures is the largest family I’ve seen. Usually there are 1-3 young ones, if any. The majority of swans are not accompanied by youngsters.
Yesterday was a rainy day. I don’t usually take photos on such dark days but passing by the bay we saw an unusual sight: a family of swans out on the saltchuck. There’s nothing for them to feed on in marine environments. They’re just snoozing lightly out of reach of danger. Full grown Trumpeter swans have few predators but they are extremely wary birds in spite of that. This family popped their heads up when we stopped the car and I rolled the window down to take a picture, even a hundred yards out.
Occasionally I see swans feeding in the pond across the road but mostly they use it for roosting, and fly off during the day. Where do they feed then? On the Skagit River delta they prefer spent winter fields, gleaning in the stubble and digging for roots. On the island here I rarely see them in fields, perhaps because ours are mostly for grazing, grain crops and hay. Instead, they have several favorite shallow wetlands for foraging like the one in the photo below in the interior of the island.
Considering how busy and active most birds are at this time of year, feeding steadily through the few daylight hours of December, it’s surprising to me that these swans spend so much of their time resting. Perhaps conserving energy is as important as fueling up. Three swans chose to take turns sleeping for a couple of hours in the pond across the road yesterday, all tucked up against the cold rain. They are beautifully graceful, even sleeping.
It is a winter treat seeing the Trumpeter Swans, even occasionally. It’s so cool knowing generations of these families come back here every year, flying a thousand miles to spend the winter on our little island in the Salish Sea.
A cygnet’s first flight in late September is ordinarily short. Daily practice prepares cygnets to migrate with their parents just before the temperature reaches freezing. Family groups and mated pairs keep to themselves on the wintering area, although they may be part of a larger congregation of swans. Parents and their cygnets return year after year to the same winter feeding sites. The quality and quantity of winter foods influences productivity during the next breeding season. (source)
Since winter feeding is critically important to the swans, and considering their site fidelity, I hope they continue to find good forage in our ponds and wetlands. Whether they come back next year with new grey youngsters will depend on that.