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Photograph by Margaret Smith. Whooper Swan

Swan Links- International

The International Swan Specialist Group issues a newsletter, "Swan News" filled with the latest research about the world's swan species.

  • EDITORIAL
    Field work and swan conservation
    ANNOUNCEMENTS
    • Update regarding the Swan Symposium Proceedings (Wildfowl Special Issue No. 7)
    • The 2022 Report IUCN SSC Swan Specialist Group
    RESEARCH PROJECTS AND UPDATES
    • Results of the international age count of the NW-European Bewick’s Swan, 17/18 December 2022
    PAPERS
    • Hybridization between Trumpeter Swan and Mute Swan in the wild
    • Wild hybrid Mute x Trumpeter Swans
    • Trumpeter Swans with Canada Goose goslings
    • Quantifying alert and flight initiation distances in Whooper Swans and Bewick’s Swans
    • Individual responses to climate warming drive Bewick’s Swan range shift in the Western Palearctic
    • Interchange of individuals between two Whooper Swan populations, and its effect on population
    size estimates
    NEWS
    • Dynasties, divorce, and 10,000 swans – 60 years of WWT’s unique Bill Pattern Study
    • Warming climate and storms see Bewick’s make latest arrival since 1965
    • Protecting the world’s wetlands – milestone lead shot ban comes into force
    • Fall 2023 Surveillance for Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu in wild birds
    • Blackfoot Challenge Montana Trumpeter Swan Monitoring
    • Presentations at the 7th International Swan Symposium and 26th Trumpeter Swan Society Conference
    • Utah Wildlife Board votes to prohibit harvest of trumpeter swans
    • New Iceland Whooper Swan colour-marking effort
    IN MEMORIAM
    • John E. Cornely (1946 - 2023)
    • Yuri Nikolaevich Mineev (1937 - 2023)
    • Ruth E. Shea (1952 - 2023)
    RECENT LITERATURE
    CONTRIBUTORS

  • Contents
    Editorial
    The 7th International Swan Symposium / 26th Trumpeter Swan Society Conference
    Announcements
    • New Co-Chair of the IUCN Swan Specialist Group
    Research projects and updates
    • Black-necked Swan and Coscoroba Swan research
    • Tundra Swan deaths in the Lower Coeur d’Alene river basin
    • Interior Population Trumpeter Swan migration ecology and conservation
    Papers
    • Swan deaths with avian influenza H5N6 recorded in Xinjiang, China
    • A rapid increase of large-sized waterfowl does not explain the population declines of small-sized
    waterbirds at their breeding sites
    • What can webcams tell us about trade-offs in swan behaviour?
    • Project Bewick’s Swan: new conservation concept for the NW European Population in northern
    Germany
    • Trumpeter Swans attack nesting Sandhill Cranes
    • Results of the 40th international brood count for the NW European Bewick’s Swan Population in
    winter, December 2021
    • Bewick’s, Mute and Whooper Swans overwintering in eastern England: competition or
    co-existence?
    News
    • Interactions Between Sea Lions and swans
    • Rongcheng Swan National Nature Reserve
    • Use your voice to secure a ban on lead ammunition
    In Memoriam
    • Harry G. Lumsden
    • David C. Lockman
    • Arnthor Gardarsson
    • Evgeny Evgenyevich Syroechkovsky Jr.
    Recent literature
    Contributors

  • Announcement.............................................................................................................................5
    7th International Swan Symposium & 26th Trumpeter Swan Society Swan Conference......5
    Research projects and updates...................................................................................................6
    Tracking swans in the East Asian flyway.............................................................................6
    A post-reintroduction assessment of the Interior Population of Trumpeter Swans..............9
    Movements and demography of Trumpeter Swans in the northern US Rocky Mountains..........................................................................................................................11
    International Swan Census reports major numbers in the Volga Delta.............................12
    Colour marking of Bewick’s Swans on the West Pacific Flyway.......................................14
    Bewick’s Swans on the NW European tundra during the global lockdown: “Swan Champions” project update ..............................................................................................15
    The Big Brood Count 2020!...............................................................................................17
    Papers.......................................................................................................................................18
    Bewick’s Swans wintering 2019/2020 in Schleswig-Holstein/northern Germany..............18
    Dietary habits of the Black-necked Swan Cygnus melancoryphus in a Ramsar wetland of southern Chile..................................................................................................21
    New tools for old problems: using webcams to study swan aggression...........................22
    Ecological consequences of Whooper Swans feeding in below-average water levels at Lake Izunuma-Uchinuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.....................................................25
    News Items................................................................................................................................27
    Utah’s swan hunt...............................................................................................................27
    Biden administration revokes the “MBTA Rule” introduced by the Trump government.....30
    EU countries choose health over poison in historic vote to ban lead shot in wetlands.....30
    Florida city sells swans after Queen’s gift leads to overpopulation...................................31
    In Memoriam..............................................................................................................................33
    Colin J. Pennycuick...........................................................................................................33
    Richard A. Malecki.............................................................................................................35
    Recent Swan Literature.............................................................................................................36
    Contributors..............................................................................................................................47

  • RESEARCH PAPERS AND PROJECT: Preliminary results of the international Bewick’s Swan age coun; Do neck collar trackers affect survival in Bewick’s Swans?; The re-establishment of Trumpeter Swans in northwestern Montana; Trumpeter Swan recruitment and remige moult in the Sandhills of Nebraska; Incubation behaviour and genetic attributes of Trumpeter Swans restored to Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge; Mute Swan population recovery following the regulation of lead use in angling; Lead poisoning from lead shot ingestion in Snoqualmie Valley, western Washington State; EXPEDITION REPORTS: Bewick’s Swans in Turkmenistan; PAPERS: Are swans crashing into airplanes?; No food shortages for Bewick’s Swans in Britain; NEWS ITEMS: North American Waterfowl management plan updated; Eight states sue over Migratory Bird Treaty Act memo; Canada proposes migratory bird regulation updates; Proceedings of the 6th International Swan Symposium: OTHER: In memoriam: Sjoerd Dirksen, 1959 — 2018; Rodney Jacob King, 1945 — 2018; Dr Aivar Leito, 1954 — 2018; Wes Halton, 1953 — 2019; Recent swan literature

  • RESEARCH PAPERS AND PROJECTS: Bewick’s Swans and their winter food resources in southeast England; Non-native Mute Swans at Chesapeake Bay Maryland, USA; Tracking movements of Trumpeter Swans in Iowa, USA; Spring ice conditions at Swan Haven, Yukon, Canada: is there change in the past 30 years; Comparing manned aerial surveys and unmanned aerial systems for Trumpeter Swan nest surveys
    EXPEDITION REPORTS: Bewick’s Swan ringing expedition to Arctic Russia; Observations of Bewick’s Swans in Greece and Turkey, southwest Siberia, Russia; Whooper Swans foraging on fruit in Japan; Championing Bewick’s Swans in the Russian Arctic Tundra Swans and alternative energy development on Lake St Clair, Ontario, Canada
    OTHER: US Department of the Interior legal memorandum changes interpretation of “incidental take” in Migratory Bird Treaty Act

  • RESEARCH PROJECTS AND UPDATES: Nest/egg temperatures in relation to Trumpeter Swan cygnet survival;Trumpeter Swan research in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem; The 2015 North American Trumpeter Swan Survey; Trumpeter Swan Survey: Rocky Mountain population, U.S. Breeding Segment, fall 2016; Refuge notebook: where do our Trumpeter Swans go in the winter?; Lifetime reproductive success for Trumpeter Swan No. 9; Population trends for the Black-necked Swans of Carlos Andwater Sanctuary (Rio Cruces) southern Chile; Effects of water levels on habitat selection by foraging Whooper Swans; Impacts of lead on the body condition of wild Whooper Swans; Are swans more aggressive than other waterbirds?; Bewick’s Swan Expert Group Update; Bewick’s Swans migration in relation to wind farm location: results of the tracking study; Flight of the Swans Survival rates of the northwest European population of Bewick’s Swans
    PAPERS: Swans killed by poison in China; AMBASSADORS FOR CONSERVATION: how swans engage communities in caring about nature and conservation
    NEWS ITEMS: Trumpeter Swans featured on U.S. migratory bird hunting stamps (“Duck Stamps”); Mute Swan management in New York, USA; Use of high resolution satellite imagery for nest censuses; Tundra Swan identification by behavior; Lead poisoning of swans in North America; Max Planck Institute for Ornithology: Animal Tracker

  • RESEARCH PROJECTS AND UPDATES: Bewick’s Swan breeding success in a changing environment; The odyssey of the Bewick’s Swan — another route to Greece; The Bewick’s Swan is a paradox; Density-dependent mechanisms at the peak nest density of Bewick’s Swan population in the Chaun Delta, Chukotka, Russia; Flight of the Swans; Bewick’s Swan Expert Group: feedback to AEWA, spring 2015 PAPERS: Black-necked Swan Cygnus melancorphus: Is there any evidence that it ever occurred in Paraguay?; Wintering swans in Krasnodar Province, Southwestern Russia
    NEW ITEMS: Observation of a Tundra Swan in West Chukotka; First arrival at Slimbridge sets new record!; A note on swans colliding with aerial wires [Power line collisions]
    In Memoriam: Winston E. Banko, 1920—2016

  • No. 11
    Fifth International Swan Symposium; Development and implementation of the AEWA Bewick’s Swan Action Plan; Bewick’s Swan National Action Plan for Estonia; Lead poisoning from lead ammunition: global policy update; International Bewick’s and Whooper Swan Census in northwest Europe; Tracking Whooper and Bewick’s Swan migration; Trumpeter Swan recovery planning and management in Alberta, Canada; Behaviour of Trumpeter Swan families post-hatching; Incubation behaviour of Trumpeter Swans at Grays Lake National Wildlife refuge, Idaho, USA; North American Trumpeter Swan Survey 2015; Historic distribution of swans in North America: part 1, historical records
    In Memoriam: Andres Kuresoo: 1954–2014

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