The trumpeter swan is on the official Ohio bird list
http://www.ohiobirds.org/site/library/checklist/official.php  based on a
few nineteenth-century specimens and archaeological remains identified.
This species was more numerous and more widely distributed centuries
ago, but persecution reduced its numbers and its breeding range (which
apparently never included Ohio--see
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/swans.html  ).  Wild
trumpeters are highly migratory, like all waterfowl breeding in the
north, and swans were described in considerable numbers wintering in
North Carolina marshes three hundred years ago. They undoubtedly passed
through Ohio on the way. They don't do this today, even though many
swans have been transplanted and fostered as close as Ontario, Michigan,
Minnesota, etc.
        A few decades ago, these swans were widely characterized as near
extinction, based on a remnant population out west, and their North
American numbers were misrepresented as numbering in the dozens. Before
long, however, large healthy populations--in the many thousands--were
recognized in NW Canada and Alaska. These were remnants after human
depredations, for the feather trade, of large populations killed mostly
in the prairie wetlands of Canada. By this time, however, a movement had
been started by organizations such as the Trumpeter Swan Society to
'bring back the swans.' State and provincial wildlife authorities were
urged to introduce swans as "ambassadors of wetlands," and "repopulate"
some highly imaginative breeding grounds in the US.
        Trumpeters on the open market are very expensive--often with
four-figure prices--but the swans-everywhere crowd provided contacts
with wild sources and propagators to supply birds more cheaply for these
"restorations." Ohio and several other Midwestern states bought in, and
here chicks were raised at the Cleveland Zoo, where visitors were
invited to visit and coo over them; there was no attempt to avoid
getting cygnets used to humans, and lots of the adults were captives
anyway. Here, swans were eventually released at Magee Marsh, Killdeer
Plains, and several smaller state WAs, as well as private properties
such as The Wilds.  The Feds never were in line with the swan project,
but some were released at Ottawa anyway, or so I hear.
        The DOW has not made public the larger history of Ohio's introductions,
or made all the numbers public, but swans were apparently extirpated at
some areas, and failed to flourish at others. A lot of birds were found
dead after hitting power lines, and numbers are shot by hunters each
year and seen at check-stations. Ohio's introductions numbered about 150
swans in 11 sites in the state if I recall correctly; what are their
numbers now? Are there any new locations in the state beyond the
introduction sites, as one might expect from wild birds? What has been
their impact on native waterfowl?  A more complete report from ODOW of
the swan project's outcomes would be of great interest and would
influence decisions about establishment.
        Other Midwestern states--Michigan has been especially zealous in
fostering trumpeters even though there is no good evidence swans ever
bred there--bought into the introduction project. Most of these
long-lived birds were originally fitted with neck-bands, but most have
fallen off with time, so individual swans have become hard to track
except through leg-bands. None of our introduced swans migrate in a
normal fashion; instead they tend to move haphazardly as far as they
need to go--not even necessarily south--to find open water. There are no
identifiable ancestral "wintering grounds" for these planted birds, as
in the old days. Swan enthusiasts have repeatedly tried to lead these
birds on migration--with aircraft or balloons--without the slightest
success.
        The trumpeters at Killdeer Plains are sedentary until all the water
freezes, then move only as far as they need to; in one of the longer
journeys, one ended up in a municipal park pool in Charleston, West
Virginia,s surviving on handouts. I believe Troy Shively has a photo of
one of the KPWA birds aggressively approaching me for a snack.  Way too
many birders think it's easy to separate tundras from trumpeters---but
see the fine points at
http://www.trumpeterswansociety.org/swan-identification.html  and
elsewhere. To be sure you're seeing trumpeters, visit Killdeer in the
summer when wild tundras are long gone, or feel free to use the
potato-chip test in winter.  Check out Pond 33 at Killdeer, where a swan
pair has driven out all other waterfowl pairs each spring. They are also
formidable antagonists for bald eagles and mute swans.
         Our swans seem not to be flourishing in numbers since their
introduction project ended in 2006; they have not adopted basic
behaviors of wild swans, such as migration; swans from neighboring
states' introduction projects seem to be in the same situation.  If a
legitimate bird from the large truly wild Alaska/NW Canada population
should improbably show up, it might be interesting to identify it as
such, but it will likely not be alone, or begging for food, or wintering
at our latitude.  A legitimate northern trumpeter might show iron oxide
stains in its plumage; it will certainly not appear tame, and it will
not be nesting here.
        I don't have the trumpeter swan on my Ohio list, and as a member of the
Ohio Bird Records Committee I would welcome, but not expect, good
documentation on the establishment of an Ohio population of this
species. I suspect it will be years yet in the case of a long-lived
species such as this, and trust this fact will not be too inconvenient
for listers. If the DOW were to publish a peer-reviewed paper
demonstrating the successful completion of this project that would help
a lot, and that is what other records committees, such as the very busy
Florida committee, require for introduced species.  The ABA has
identified some reasonable criteria for the establishment of introduced
species--at least for inclusion in lists--which can be read at
http://www.aba.org/checklist/exotics.html . The ABA wisely defers to
state records committees on such matters.  The criteria apply to species
from outside the "ABA area," but the records committee has kept them in
mind for locally introduced birds as well.
--Not counting the sharp-tailed grouse the DOW released in Lucas County
anymore,
Bill Whan
Columbus

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