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Swans

The loud trumpeting call of the world's largest waterfowl, the trumpeter swan, can be heard regularly at Blind Slough, south of Petersburg, from mid-fall to late spring. Once nearly extinct, the trumpeter swan has increased to 15,000 in number and occurs at various places throughout the Northwest portion of North America. The trumpeter has also been re-introduced to its former range in the upper mid-west.

Swans begin arriving in small family groups at Blind Slough in mid-October. Approximately 1,000 swans may stop to rest and feed along their 4,000 mile migration. Fifty to 100 trumpeter swans winter there, feeding mainly on aquatic plants and roots of grasses and sedges. Depending on the severity of the winter, food sources become limited as winter progresses. It is a very stressful time for the swans. As Blind Slough freezes, the swans move to the Blind Rapids area where tidal action prevents the water from freezing and allows them to feed. When freezing occurs early and is severe, Blind Slough is iced over and the swans are under great stress to find food and stay alive. The additional stress of fleeing from snowmobiles, four-wheelers, and dogs can cause death.

The Forest Service observatory along Mitkof Highway at mile 16.2 is there for you to observe the swans without disturbing them. Trumpeter swans are the largest North American water birds. Adult males reach a length of up to 5 feet with a wingspan up to 7 feet and may weigh from 18 to 27 pounds. When observing swans you may notice immature swans called cygnets, which are smaller than the adults and grayish white in color. A few tundra swans, previously referred to as whistling swans, are sometimes present at Blind Slough. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish trumpeters from tundras. Tundras have a yellow spot on their bill near their eye, are smaller in size, and have a whistle-like call.

Swans are an ancient bird and have been found in fossils as old as 30 million years. When people first came to North America, trumpeter swans inhabited areas from Alaska to Florida. People hunted trumpeters almost to extinction in the lower 48 states by 1931, when only 35 adults and 15 cygnets were found, all in the Yellowstone area. Due to efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, numbers of swans have increased so they are no longer listed on the Federal Endangered Species list. However, due to continued loss of habitat there are still concerns about the ability of trumpeter swans to survive as a species.

We encourage everyone to take a few moments this winter to enjoy these beautiful birds from a distance.

For more information about swans, view the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Notebook Series.