Here is a summary of the id responses I received on the ID the swans in the photo...Based on the varied opinions from some good birders, I am just going to call these birds swans...
Its a good lesson for me to take more field notes!...Thanks to everyone..P"These are interesting. I know the one on the right is a Trumpeter because of how the black of the beak extends up to the eye. Tundras look kinda "pinched" just in front of the eye. You can really see this with the first image. The swan on the left almost looks like a Tundra but I can't tell if it's an artifact of lighting. If there were by themselves I would assume that it's a pair of Trumpeters.""I vote for a pair of Trumpeters." "I will vote Tundra Swans. It appears that the area between the bill and eye constricts down between them. In Trumpeters the bill-line goes almost straight to the outer edges of the eye. They are also holding their necks vertically, with no'curve' at the base of the neck, another indicator I have used for Tundra. They also appear a little smaller and more delicate than Trumpeters. According to the "Jizz' factor, anyway ;)That can be a tough call sometimes! " "I guess how I tell them apart is mainly size. The tundra also holds it's neck very erect and the yellow spot on upper bill may also be absent. Also these birds are much less noisy than the trumpeter, and have a much less raucous call, more like a whooing. ""Looking at your photos it looks like the left bird is a Tundra and the right bird looks bigger and has a more evenly rounded back and black on bill tends to go up and around the eye and not just to the eye so I would call the right bird a Trumpeter from your photos." "These look like Tundra Swans to me, the rounded head, bill structure, and angle where bill meets head look right for Tundra. The yellow lores are only really useful if they are there as that would effectively eliminate Trumpeter Swan. The lores can be very reduced (and hard to see) or even absent on some Tundras. " http://picasaweb.google.com/Ripariana/2007_02_16?authkey=0uWEl4rO7RU
Paul Sieracki 208.448.2790
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