Tweets:
In an effort to determine where that yellow resides on the whooper bill,
I reviewed a multitude of images on Google. In well over 300 pictures,
there
was only one which portrayed the underside of the whooper bill, and in a
somewhat similar number of Bewick's studies, the underbill was never
shown. This is not surprising, since profiles are by all odds the most
appealing of the photo poses, and a shot of the swan tilting its neck upward
directly toward the viewer will likely be rejected.
I would urge any of the whooper - hesitant folks to go on the web to:
http://www.free-picture-graphic.org.uk On the opening page single click a
box in the
left column titled Ducks-Swans-Geese Picture. On the next page, in the far
right column, 9 boxes down, single click: Male Whooper Swan.
This brings up a marvelous shot of the swan preening, and the long
triangle of yellow on the underside of the bill is clearly shown. It sure
looks like the bird I saw !!

Cheers
Howard Wilson
Bellevue, WA
mailto:hwiz at earthlink.net