Photograph by Kathryn Cubert
Tracking Swans
It is so interesting to see where a swan travels during the year!
Swans can be tracked in two ways.
One way is using a GPS/GSM tracking collar which records the GPS coordinates where a swan is every 15 minutes. The information is stored in the collar and when the swan goes by a cell phone tower, the information is downloaded for scientists. The tracking collars have black panels which are solar panels to recharge the batteries.
The second way to track a swan depends on you and people just like you who see a swan with a neck collar, wing tag, or a colored leg band. Those collars don't track locations. The only way to know the location of a certain swan is by a person reporting it, through Trumpeter Watch or to the Bird Banding Lab.
Here are some fun stories of swans and maps of their movements.
Some of the maps were created using information stored in the GPS/GSM tracking collar. You can see the travels of western and midwest swans with GPS/GSM tracking collars.
You can also see how reports of swans with plastic collars, wing tags or leg bands that are not GPS tracking collars help wildlife biologists and researchers.
Click on the photos to see and learn more!
Tracking swans with GPS/GSM collars
Western Swans with tracking collars
Western swans are being tracked through GPS/GSM tracking collars. "GPS" means Global Positioning System.
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See the autumn migration of trumpeter swans captured and collared during the winter in Oregon. See where they spent the summer and the areas they traveled through on their return to their winter grounds in Oregon.
Autumn migration of trumpeter swans collared during the winter in Oregon
This Google Earth map shows the autumn migration routes from trumpeter swans with GPS/GSM tracking collars to their return to wintering grounds in Oregon.
The red lines and pins are the travel routes and locations of swans collared at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (Oregon).
The yellow lines and pins are travel routes and locations of swan collared at Summer Lake Wildlife Area (Oregon).
Female swan @13's summer movements are on the other photo. Do you see her red pin in British Columbia very close to Yukon and Northwest Territories?
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Here is where female swan @13 traveled around her nesting area during the summer
See how a trumpeter swan travels around its summer wetland
Female swan @13 received her GPS/GSM tracking collar during the winter in Oregon. She migrated north in the spring to British Columbia. She spent the summer at Maxhamish Lake Provincial Park and Pretected area. This is a 67,990 acre provincial park in British Columbia.
The yellow lines show her travels around the area where she spent the summer. She was flying to other nearby areas to feed, and perhaps to explore.
Check out the autumn migration photo to see where she was along with the other swans with GPS/GSM collars.
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This swan was captured and collared in winter at Summerlake Wildlife Area in Oregon. It was spotted with its mate in Alberta, Canada
GPS/GSM swan that winters in Oregon travels in spring to Alberta
This swan spends the summer in Alberta, Canada and spends the winter at Summerlake Wildlife Area in Oregon.
The white GPS/GSM collar has black solar panels that keep the battery charged. The collar collects location information every 15 minutes. When the swan passes a cell phone tower, the information in the collar is downloaded so the swan's locations are tracked!
Photo by Edith Mackenzie
Midwest swans with tracking collars
The largest swan tracking study for Midwest trumpeter swans used GPS/GSM tracking collars from 2019-2023.
This project is through the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit. States and provinces participating are Arkansas, Iowa, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Check out these special movements of Minnesota and Arkansas swans with GPS/GSM tracking collars!
Maps through the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and courtesy of David Wolfson
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Each winter, a couple hundred trumpeter swans fly to Heber Springs, Arkansas to spend the winter in the warmer climate. Three of the swans received GPS/GSM tracking collars. See where they spend the summer!
Arkansas to Canada!
Three adult trumpeter swans, each with their own mate and/or family, were collared with GPS/GSM tracking collars in December 2021 in Heber Springs, Arkansas. This map, through the University of Minnesota, shows the travels of the three swans over three years.
The blue line are the movements of male swan 7L. He and his mate spend the summer in eastern Manitoba!
The yellow line are the movements of female swan 9L. She and her mate spend the summer in northwest Ontario.
The green line are the movements of female swan 8L. She and her mate spend the summer in southwest Ontario.
Map: University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
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Public tracking map of Midwest swans, through the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Closeup of summer locations of swans 7L, 8L and 9L
You can see where the three swans spend the summer.
7L: the BLUE line are the movements and nesting area of male swan 7L in eastern Manitoba.
8L: the GREEN line are the movements and nesting area of female 8L in southwest Ontario.
9L: the YELLOW line are the movements and summer nesting area of female 9L in remote western Ontario.
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Female swan 9L returns to Heber Springs Arkansas for her third year
Female swan 9L (and her mate) returned to Arkansas for her third winter with her tracking collar in late November 2023. We don't know how many years she came to Arkansas before receiving her tracking collar in December 2021.
Her tracking collar, head and neck are stained from minerals like iron in the waters where she has been feeding. Swans spend much of their time eating with their heads and necks in the water as they feed on submerged plants and tubers.
You can see the black solar panels on the collar. The solar panels recharge the battery in the collar so location information can be stored and downloaded later.
Photo by Kenny Nations
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Minnesota female swan 4T travels to Michigan to spend the winter near Kalamazoo. She migrates across Lake Michigan going to Michigan, and traveling in the late winter back to Minnesota, but through northern Wisconsin!
Minnesota female swan 4T spends the winter in Michigan
Minnesota female swan 4T crosses Lake Michigan to spend the winter near Kalamazoo. She has been tracked with her mate and cygnets spending consecutive winters in Michigan. Photo by Melanie Martin.
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Click on the photo to see her travels. Map courtesy of David Wolfson and the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Minnesota swan 4T spends the winter in Michigan
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Did you know swans 'molt' (lose) their feathers in the summer and grow new feathers? Swans may molt at or near their summer nesting area. Others make 'molt migrations' to other places to grow new feathers. Minnesota female swan 8A made a long distance molt migration to western Ontario! Learn more by clicking on the picture.
Minnesota swan 8A makes 'molt migration' to Ontario
This Google Earth map tracks the movements of Minnesota female swan 8A. Minnesota swan researcher, David Wolfson, tracked her movements on this map. She was captured and collared in June 2020 near Minneapolis, MN. She wintered in February near Quincy, Illinois. She move north in the spring to areas around Minneapolis, Minnesota. THEN, she made a summer molt migration to Ontario, Canada ('Current location")!
Map courtesy of David Wolfson and the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
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Click on the picture to see Minnesota swan 8A in molt while in Ontario! There is a link to see what swans in molt go through to grow new feathers- "No, Your swan didn't explode!"
Minnesota female swan 8A in western Ontario
Here's a photo of MN swan 8A, taken by Darren Willems, in western Ontario's remote Darkwater Lake area in August 2021.
You can see the white GPS/GSM tracking collar. The black panels are solar panels to recharge the battery on the collar.
If you look carefully you can see the somewhat tattered ends of the large upraised wings. This shows the swan is 'in molt'.
Read this great article to learn about molting- see what happens to the feathers!
Neck collars, leg bands and wing tags
An Ontario swan with a 'wing tag'
Ontario attaches large yellow 'wing tags' to track its swans. Midwest and western states use neck collars and colored legs bands to track swans.
Wing tags and colored neck collars and colored leg bands don't collect tracking information.
It is someone like you who spots a swan with a wing tag, neck collar or colored leg band that lets us know where a swan is during the year.
The Trumpeter Swan Society shares the report with the state or province that put on the wing tag, neck collar or colored leg band.
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Ontario swan P42 is a female swan that hatched in 2016 near Toronto. In 2018, at two years of age she began traveling to different areas in the winter.
Ontario wing-tagged swan P42
Ontario female swan P42 during her 2018 winter travels. You can see her yellow 'wing tag" with P42 printed on it. That is her very own 'name tag'. She spent the winter in Pennsylvania and people there were so happy to see her that they created a local Facebook group in Pennsylvania to 'follow' her!
Photo by David Reagle
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This map shows the sightings and reports of P42 between 2016-2023. Follow the numbered circles to see where she has been over time- from Toronto (#1), to Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and many places in Ontario!
Travels of Ontario wing-tagged swan P42
This map shows the sightings and reports of P42 between 2016-2023. Follow the numbered circles to see where she has been over time- from Toronto (#1), to Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and many places in Ontario!
To learn more, watch the webinar, Return of Trumpeter Swans to Ontario. Her story begins at 45 minutes into the presentation.
Watch the video from the beginning and learn how wing tags are put on swans, the cool things we learned because of wing tags, and also see how swans grow up and then have families of their own.
Map by Ontario Trumpeter Swan Conservation
Iowa swans with neck collars
States tracking swans use colored neck collars and sometime colored leg bands. These are called 'marked' swans.
Each collar code and leg band is unique to the swan. It is its 'name tag'.
Because each code is unique, when a report of a swan with that code comes in, the location and date are known for that swan. Each report tells the unique story of a particular swan.
Each 'marked' swan also receives a metal leg band with a unique US Fish and Wildlife Service number.
Iowa used both red and green neck collars and leg bands.
These plastic neck collars and leg bands do not automatically track locations. They are 'non transmitting' collars. It is through a person just like you who sees a 'marked' swan and reports it through Trumpeter Watch that scientists know where a swan is and where it travels during the year!
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Map of places where Iowa swans have been spotted
This is a map showing all the different places that Iowa swans with neck collars or leg bands have been reported between 1995-2005 (ten years).
Iowa swans have been spotted as far away as Manitoba, Colorado, Texas, Virginia and even western Ontario!
Map courtesy of Iowa Department of Natural Resources
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Iowa swan with a neck collar and colored leg band
Here is a swan parent (on the left) and its young swan (on the right) that hatched the summer before, taking off. Adult swans have all white feathers. Young swans have gray feathers.
Iowa used red and green collars and leg bands.
Here you can see the adult swan has a red collar and leg band, with a unique code. The adult swan also has a metal leg band. That leg band is a Fish and Wildlife Service band, with a different but unique code. All banded/marked birds have Fish and Wildlife Service leg bands.
Because each code is unique, when a report of a swan with that code comes in, the location and date are known for that swan. Each report tells the unique story of a particular swan.
Photo by Ryan Askren
