Atlantic Flyway Eastern Tundra Swan Project
Tundra Swan with radio transmitter. Picture courtesy of Larissa Rose, PA Game Commission
Tundra Swan with radio transmitter. Picture courtesy of Larissa Rose, PA Game Commission
This site was created for efficient dissemination of Tundra Swan migration data to participating biologists and other interested parties. Individual state websites have been developed by participating states. These include North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission site (http://www.ncwildlife.org/fs_index_04_hunting.htm), the Pennsylvania Game Commission swan site (http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/PGC/swan/index.htm), and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries swan site (http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/swan/). When a website is developed by the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Division a link to this website will be provided when available.
Here, you can view location maps of Tundra Swans wearing satellite collars. The first map included data up to March 7, 2001. Maps will generally be updated bimonthly.
CLICK ON MAPS HERE
September 19, 2001 (They're on the move!)
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries swan site is running: (http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/swan/). North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission swan site is running: (http://www.ncwildlife.org/fs_index_04_hunting.htm).September 1-September 14, 2003
September 15-September 28, 2003
December 30, 2003-January 5, 2004
January 6, 2004-January 12, 2004
January 13, 2004-February 2, 2004
February 13, 2004: ***PLEASE NOTE: Only 2 satellite radio transmitters remain active. Both of these birds were banded in Virginia, so locations of these birds can be seen on the Virginia Department of Game and Fish Website (http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/swan/). Therefore, this website will no longer be updated.
Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) are divided for management purposes into an Eastern Population (EP), which winters within the Atlantic Flyway and a Western Population (WP), which winters in the Pacific Flyway. Both populations number around 100,000 birds. EP swans breed throughout the Canadian Arctic and Alaska, and have a winter range that extends from southern Pennsylvania to North Carolina.
Not a lot is known about the migration ecology of these birds, although great gains have been made recently (for more information on swans and satellite tracking of swans, see the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund website at http://www.bsc-eoc.org/lpbo/swans/swans.html). Several issues impact management of Tundra Swans. Tundra Swans are a long-lived species with relatively low annual recruitment. Since swans breed in remote areas, little is known about their breeding ecology and distribution. In addition, the species is hunted in North Carolina, Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. Harvest management would be more effective if more was known about their vital rates, migratory patterns, and distribution.
Objectives of this study include: to determine the breeding range and migration stopover locations of the Eastern Population (EP) of Tundra Swans, as well as patterns of movement between these areas; to determine fidelity and possible sub-population affiliations of Tundra Swans to Atlantic Flyway wintering locations within years and between subsequent years; to increase precision of survival rate estimates for EP swans; and to determine extent and nature of winter movements of Tundra Swans in relation to habitat use and human disturbance. What makes this project unique is it’s scale and size: hundreds of birds have been marked over most of their Eastern wintering areas, providing a fairly representative sample of the Eastern Population.
This is a large-scale, cooperative study, with many participants, including Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Division, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Pennsylvania Game Commission, and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, USFWS, NY Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, and Delta Waterfowl Foundation.
Three types of neck collars are being used: standard neck collars (gray collars with unique black lettered codes), conventional radio transmitters mounted on white neck collars (battery life approximately 18 months, range 2-5 miles), and satellite transmitters mounted on white neck collars (battery life approximately 24 months, with signals sent out every 3-5 days). These satellite signals can be picked up from anywhere in the world by satellites orbiting the globe. While observers must manually collect observations of standard and radio collars, satellite data is sent by email to the NY Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit.
In the winter of 1999-2000, >600 swans were marked with standard neck collars (gray collars with unique black lettered codes) in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. This year, again more than 600 swans were marked with one of three types of collars: standard neck collars (gray with black lettering), conventional radio transmitters mounted on white neck collars (battery life approximately 18 months, range 2-5 miles), and satellite transmitters mounted on white neck collars (battery life approximately 24 months). This marking occurred in four states – Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Adult female swans received radio or satellite transmitters; all other age and sex groups received standard collars. All birds were also marked with a standard USFWS aluminum leg band.
Any collar sightings should be reported to the Bird Banding Lab, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, in Laurel, MD. This can be done over the web at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/homepage/recwobnd.htm or over the phone by calling 1-800-327-BAND.
Principal Investigators
Khristi
Wilkins, graduate student, Division of Migratory Bird Management, USFWS, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY
Richard Malecki, Assistant Unit Leader, USGS-BRD New York Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Sue Sheaffer, Research Associate, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Dennis Luszcz, Waterfowl Project Leader, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Edenton, NC
Cooperators
Delta Waterfowl Foundation(http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/).
Division of Migratory Bird Management,
USFWS
Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Division
North Carolina Wildlife Resources
Commission
Pennsylvania Game Commission
USFWS Region 3, Minneapolis, MN
USFWS Region 4, Atlanta, GA
USFWS Region 5, Hadley, MA
USFWS Region 6, Denver, CO
USFWS Region 7, Anchorage, AK
USGS
Virginia Department of Game and Inland
Fisheries
In addition to these formal cooperators, dozens of biologists and volunteers in Canada and the U.S. helped mark these birds and/or are looking for marked birds. These cooperators include, but are not limited to, biologists from:
ABR Environmental Research Services,
AK
Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge
(NWR), MN
Alligator River NWR, NC
Back Bay NWR, VA
Blackwater NWR, VA
Bowdoin NWR, MT
Canadian Wildlife Service – several
groups and locations
Currituck NWR, NC
Devils Lake NWR, ND
Ducks Unlimited, ND
Eastern Neck NWR, MD
Hennepin Parks, MN
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Long Point Waterfowl & Wetlands
Research Center, ON
Mattamuskeet NWR, NC
Medicine Lake NWR, MT
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Pocosin Lakes NWR, NC
Shiawassee NWR, MI
South Carolina DNR
Waterfowl Branch, USFWS Region 7
Wildlife Population Surveys Section,
Div. of Migratory Bird Mgmt., USFWS
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Thanks also to:
