Tweeters, Jay Desgrosellier from Yakima asks me for any advice on a
immature swan challenge currently raging in Tennessee.

I hone in on structural characteristics, (bill and head shape) and not
plumage color, but I might be missing something when it comes to
immatures). It would be helpful if someone from down there would put a
picture on the web. Maybe there are some birds in the Great Smokies Ruth
Sullivan needs?

Anyone with ideas might want to reply to Jay plus Tweeters, so we might all
learn.

Andy
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> From: Jay Desgrosellier <Jay.Desgrosellier at mcmail.vanderbilt.edu>
> To: steppie at wolfenet.com
> Subject: Immature Tundra/Trumpeter Swan I.D.
> Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 3:00 PM
>
> Hi Andy,
>
> We have a really good mystery swan here in Nashville. Several
> people, including myself, think that this swan is probably a
> Trumpeter while just as many feel that it's a Tundra. If it's a
> Trumpeter, then it would be Tennessee's first record since John
> James Audubon saw them here. I'm not sure, but I imagine that there
> must be someone hacking Trumpeter's somewhere in the East, so it's
> not as if it had to come from out west, but as yet I haven't met
> anyone who knows. The PROBLEM is that it's an immature bird molting
> into adult plumage. The bill is entirely black and for all intents
> and purposes the culmen is straight as an arrow. The feathers on the
> head, neck and body are mixed white and brown. By the way, this
> bird is EXTREMELY tame and is hanging out with a few Canada geese
> in a little pond in a subdivision!! Therefore, very close views are
> permitted (as in from several feet). The black of the bill clearly
> encompasses the eye. I'm not sure of the progression of immature
> Tundra's to the yellow (or sometimes bare) spot beneath the eye, so
> please correct me on this if I'm wrong, but there was no room for
> any spot beneath the eye unless it appeared on the black of the
> bill. The clincher would be if the bird would call, but it just
> won't!! I've talked to a couple of people who thought they heard a
> low guttaral noise, but they weren't sure that it wasn't the geese
> that surround it. Anyway, I remember having this discussion on swan
> I.D. before and wondered if you could add any field marks that I
> should look for that would be diagnostic. I don't remember ever
> seeing an immature Tundra swan as they migrate north this time of
> year, but maybe I've just overlooked them. If there's a significant
> difference in the times at which Tundra/Trumpeter swans molt into
> adult plumage that would be helpful. Maybe you could posit this
> question to Tweeters. Are there any Tundra swans in Washington
> currently molting or are they all currently in adult plumage? Thanks
> in advance for any suggestions you can make regarding this very
> challenging I.D.
>
> Jay Desgrosellier
> Vanderbilt University
> Nashville, TN