General

Tundra Swan: Small swan, completely white but with head and neck often stained rust-brown from ferrous minerals in marsh soils. Bill is black, usually with yellow spot at base. Legs and feet are black. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is pale gray-brown overall and has pink-orange bill with black base and tip.

Range and Habitat

Tundra Swan: Breeds in Alaska and far northern Canada east to Baffin Island. Spends winters from southern Alaska south to Nevada, Utah, and Baja California and on mid-Atlantic coast; rarely found on the Gulf coast of Texas and occasionally on the Great Lakes. Preferred habitats include tundra, marshy lakes, and bays.

Breeding and Nesting

Tundra Swan: Four to five dull white eggs are laid on a large mound of grass and moss on an island or beside a marshy tundra lake. Incubation ranges from 31 to 40 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Tundra Swan: Feeds on seeds and roots of aquatic vegetation; also eats mollusks; forages by plunging neck into shallow water and pulling vegetation from the bottom.

Vocalization

Tundra Swan: Call is a mellow bugle "hoo-ho-hoo", usually heard during migration.

Similar Species

Tundra Swan: Trumpeter Swan is larger and has all-dark bill.