{"id":2411,"date":"2011-01-13T15:01:11","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T21:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/earbirding.com\/blog\/?p=2411"},"modified":"2011-01-22T11:47:05","modified_gmt":"2011-01-22T17:47:05","slug":"trumpeter-and-tundra-swans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/earbirding.com\/blog\/archives\/2411","title":{"rendered":"Trumpeter and Tundra Swans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What kind of swan is this? Are you sure? Ridgeway NWR, WA, 2\/1\/2009. Photo by SigmaEye (Creative Commons 2.0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trumpeter and Tundra Swans present a consistently underrated identification challenge in North America.\u00a0 Field guides and websites present a number of visual field marks, often with clear-cut illustrations or photos to show the differences — David Sibley presents a particularly good summary<\/a> — but many of the differences are variable (like bill shape and color), change with the angle of viewing (like head shape), or are difficult to judge in the field (like size).\u00a0 Some of the best field marks, like the shape of the border between the facial feathers and the bill, may not help much in separating immature birds.<\/p>\n

Many people think of swans as silent — ask them to imagine a swan and they will picture a species from Europe, the (somewhat) aptly-named Mute Swan, gliding serenely around a garden pond.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to forget that both native North American species were named for their vocalizations: \u00a0\u201cTrumpeter\u201d and \u201cWhistling\u201d (as the New World subspecies of the Tundra Swan was known before it was lumped with the \u201cBewick\u2019s\u201d Swans of Siberia).\u00a0 As those very different appellations suggest, the two species sound quite distinct, and voice can be a good way to identify them.<\/p>\n

At the same time, swans are vocally quite versatile (especially Tundra).\u00a0 I didn’t expect so much variety when I began my research, but then I never do.\u00a0 Variability aside, the bottom line is that vocalizations of Trumpeter and Tundra Swans consistently differ in pitch <\/strong>and tone quality<\/strong> with almost no overlap, and should thus be an excellent way to tell the species apart in the field.<\/p>\n

Trumpeter Swan<\/h4>\n

Trumpeters sound remarkably low-pitched<\/em> and nasal<\/em> compared to Tundras — their call can easily be compared to the sound of a Red-breasted Nuthatch<\/a> or (believe it or not) an Ivory-billed Woodpecker call<\/a> — with many authors drawing comparisions to tin trumpets and taxi horns.\u00a0 The length and pattern of Trumpeter vocalizations is quite variable, and occasionally they can sound noisy (like in the last two calls on this recording<\/a>).\u00a0 Typically, however, they sound much like this:<\/p>\n

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