Tracking trumpeter swans through GPS collars

‪@TrumpeterSwanSociety‬
Tracking Midwest trumpeter swans through GPS collars: Minnesota trumpeter swan 2R spends the winter in Missouri
Six swans with GPS tracking collars are spending the 2020/2021 winter at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri. They join hundreds and often thousands of trumpeter swans that winter there (Loess Bluffs NWR website: www.fws.gov/re... ).
Four of the GPS-collared swans are from Minnesota, including swan 2R featured in this video. The two other swans with GPS collars at Loess Bluffs this winter include Manitoba swan (collar 1H) and Iowa swan (collar 5C).
These GPS-collared swans are adding vital scientific knowledge of swans to help in their management and well-being. Right now very little is known about Midwest swan movements throughout the year.
This project is helping swan and wildlife biologists better understand the needs of trumpeter swans, the habitats they use, where and when they leave one habitat for another, how long they stay, and how far they travel. This science-based knowledge helps assure that wildlife management actions can be taken that will help trumpeter swans now and into the future.
The collars are very light weight, weighing about 2 oz. or 55 grams. During winter, swan neck feathers fluff out for insulation, sometimes giving the appearance the collar is tight. However, the collars are designed to be the right size to stay on the neck, move freely but not slip off and still allow the swan to feed naturally and comfortably.
The collars were white at the time they were deployed in the summer of 2020. However, the collars become stained yellow to brown over time by sediments in the waters where swans are feeding, or mud splatter from field feeding. The collars have black vertical solar panels and black codes with a number and letter (for example: 2R).
The collars record and then download locations that tell the unique story about a particular swan through the locations the swan visits. Below is 2R’s story that is already known because of this study.
This video of GPS-collared trumpeter swan 2R was taken by Dan Staples the morning of January 19, 2021, at Loess Bluffs NWR.
2R is a female trumpeter swan that was caught and collared by Minnesota researchers on a private wetland just west of Winthrop, MN on July 9, 2020. At the time of capture, she had a mate and they had one cygnet (young swan). This capture location was one of the most agricultural-heavy spots that researchers caught a swan in during the entire season. The landowner mentioned the swans had been using the wetland for a number of years, but this may be the first year the pair raised a cygnet.
According to David Wolfson, the Minnesota researcher, 2R left Minnesota at 7:00 a.m. on November 16, 2020, heading south. This was about five days after the weather shifted from 70’s Fahrenheit in Minnesota to below freezing temperatures with snow. The swan traveled straight through Iowa and went right to Loess Bluffs NWR, arriving at 4:00 a.m. on November 17, 2020, after traveling approximately 300 miles.
You can help this research effort by reporting on the behavior of any GPS-collared swan you see (for example, is it feeding, resting, swimming, fighting?) and if it seems to be in a family group with a partner and cygnets. This information can be included in the Trumpeter Swan Society’s easy online reporting page (link below).
Report a Swan: bit.ly/SwanReport
Video by Dan Staples, January 19, 2021, taken at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge
#Missouri,, #LoessBluffsNWR, #trumpeterswansociety, #wildswans, #swans, #trumpeters, #preening, #birdvideo, #wetlandconservation, #wetlands, #naturevideos, #naturevideo, #swanlovers, #trumpeterswan, #animalvideo, #conservation, #swantracking, #GPStracking, #birdtracking, #trumpeterwatch

[@LivingTheDream77]

Its too tight on its neck, it must hurt

[@TrumpeterSwanSociety]

Hi! I appreciate your comment. You have a perception about collar tightness that others who see them for the first time sometimes do as well. That is why the description includes information about this common misconception. Rest assured the collars are not too tight- I'm not sure if you read this explanation in the description. "The collars are very light weight, weighing about 2 oz. or 55 grams. During winter, swan neck feathers fluff out for insulation, sometimes giving the appearance the collar is tight. However, the collars are designed to be the right size to stay on the neck, move freely but not slip off and still allow the swan to feed naturally and comfortably." Neck collars are designed specifically for each bird species. They are safe, lightweight and not too tight. But now you can see how a swan fluffs up its neck feathers for insulation to keep warm. Thank you!