Hi everyone,
Recently, I have become a bit uncomfortable with the swan at Cash Lake
being a pure Trumpeter Swan (TRUS). In the first few photos that
circulated of the bird, and at some angles while viewing in person, it
certainly did have the feel of Trumpeter, but in person and as seen in some
of the excellent photos that have recently been made of this bird, I felt
like something was a bit off. I went back and observed the bird again and
noted the following features that caused me to dive into the murky waters
of swan ID.
- intermediate forehead shape (lacking prominent V of TRUS, not smoothly
rounded as in Tundra Swan (TUSW)).
- the concave look between the cheek and bill (too round for TRUS, not
quite round enough for TUSW).
- the pinched in look immediately in front of the eye.
- the overall proportions.
I discussed the bird with a few people (Matt Hafner, Bill Hubick,
Marshall Iliff, Dan Small and Chris Wood) and they agreed that the bird
seemed off and was not a good candidate for a pure Trumpeter. The
consensus is that this may be a "Trumpling" Swan (a hybrid between
Trumpeter and Tundra (Whistling) Swans). Chris Wood has experience with
this hybrid combination and provided some excellent feedback on the bird
pointing to its intermediate features. In addition to those talked about
above, he mentioned another that I was unfamiliar with and that is the way
the tail is held; it is often held in a stronger V shape reminiscent of a
grackles tail on TRUS, whereas TUSW often hold theirs flat and this ones
seemed intermediate, he also mentioned that the bill looked big (perhaps
too small for TRUS, but too big for TUSW).
Of course there is still a lot to learn and document on this bird and
sound recordings would be ideal, so if anyone is planning on going to see
this bird, and can make recordings, please do if you are lucky enough to
hear the bird calling, and if anyone has any already, would you mind
posting or passing them along? This is a great opportunity for us all
study and learn about swan ID, something that I personally feel is an
under-appreciated ID challenge.
Photos of Trumpeter Swans:
http://www.billhubick.com/photos/birds/trumpeter_swan.php
*
*Photos of the Cash Lake bird:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeycerw/
Other excellent photos can be found within the following eBird checklist-
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13115182
Good birding!
Mikey
Mikey Lutmerding
Croom, MD
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