Bird of the Week

Trumpeter swans at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

I stopped at the Sherburn Wildlife Refuge on my way north to a writer's retreat. If you've ever heard the call of a trumpeter swan, you'll know how they got their name. Galloping horse birds would also be good if you were to name them for the beating of their wings on the water as they take flight. They weigh 25 pounds or so--the heaviest bird in North America, and their getaway is noisy and lumbering.

Some fun facts from allaboutbirds.org:

• Starting in the 1600s, market hunters and feather collectors had decimated Trumpeter Swans populations by the late 1800s. Swan feathers adorned fashionable hats, women used swan skins as powder puffs, and the birds’ long flight feathers were coveted for writing quills. Aggressive conservation helped the species recover by the early 2000s.
• Trumpeter Swans form pair bonds when they are three or four years old. The pair stays together throughout the year, moving together in migratory populations. Trumpeters are assumed to mate for life, but some individuals do switch mates over their lifetimes. Some males that lost their mates did not mate again.
• Trumpeter Swans take an unusual approach to incubation: they warm the eggs by covering them with their webbed feet.