Did Trumpeter Swans Ever Breed in Eastern North America?
Introduction The authors of this web site, Bill Whan and Gerry Rising, yield to no one in our admiration for trumpeter swans, uniquely beautiful and imposing members of our North American avifauna. We mourn their passing in so many parts of their former range, and we support their restoration within that range where that can be accomplished without endangering other species. We also honor the biologists, wildlife managers, and other advocates who have undertaken the responsible fostering of restored swan populations in that region of Central and Western North America. All the same, the trumpeter swan has never deserved — nor has it received — a designation as an endangered, or even a threatened, bird in North America. It is true that its Lower 48 populations numbered in the dozens fifty years ago, but it was never numerous south of Canada, and healthy populations in the thousands have for centuries persisted in western Canada and Alaska. Our admiration and advocacy for these beautifu
