Banding Cygnet Trumpeter Swans with the Wisconsin DNR

“Canoes five through seven advance to the Northwest, we’ve spotted the gaggle of 12 cygnet swans.” The voice of authority came muffled through a radio in the bottom of our canoe. I glanced at the faded number 5 on the aluminum hull. Adrenaline coursed though my veins. My fellow paddler, and long time friend, Jeff and I threw out possible strategies and tactics for catching our own cygnet trumpeter swan. “Remember, we have to keep them out of the reeds, if they hit the shore we’ll lose them,” I said. “I think we can make that happen” Jeff said focusing on the reeds as we glided through the glassy water.

“All teams approaching cygnets in t-minus two minutes,” Matteson said. Matteson was the voice of authority and the captain of this operation. He was currently circling overhead in a bi-plane. He had described the capture and banding process earlier that day, “These swans we’re targeting are young. They can’t fly yet, and we basically need to chase them around the lake until they grow tired, then we can pull them out of the lake, into the canoe, and bring them to shore. Once on shore we’ll collect their vitals, band the birds, and release them- with a goal of efficiency. We don’t want to keep these birds out of the water for too long.” Matteson had been banding Trumpeter swans since they were put on the endangered species list back in the 80's. He is a no-nonsense expert in the field of swans and ornithology.

A fleck of white in the distance snapped me back to the present. Jeff saw them too. I could feel the speed of the canoe accelerate as we and the other canoes herded the group of cygnets toward the middle of the lake. It wasn’t long before we separated one cygnet from the group and were hot in pursuit. The bird seemed to have unending energy as it burst into episodes of would-be flight. Instead of taking to the sky, its undeveloped flight feathers kept it in contact with the surface of the water. It's wings reminded me of a rowboat as they beat forward and back propelling the bird away from us and toward sanctuary in the reeds.

We were slowly gaining on the bird and had come within a few feet of it as I signaled to Jeff that I would have to stop paddling in order to pick up the net and capture the bird, leaving all of our forward momentum in his hands. With a nod of his head I replaced the paddle in my hands with the cold steel shaft of the giant net I was to use in capture of the cygnet swan. At first our canoe dropped back as the power of two people fell to one and then determination took over Jeff and our canoe picked up speed gaining on the now visibly tired bird. I got the net in what I assumed was a good position as we came alongside the powerful bundle of feathers and muscle. Then acting in one swift movement I reached the net over its head and around its body and heaved up into the air. The weight of the bird startling me as I lifted the contents of the net into the canoe and emptied the bird onto the hull between my feet. To my surprise and wonderment the young swan lay resting there as I picked up my paddle, sent a giant smile to Jeff, and resumed the rhythmic paddle strokes that would help bring us to shore.

As I wondered about how evolution left these animals without much instinct past capture, I looked around I noted that our fleet of canoes was pretty successful. I couldn’t see all the swans laying in canoe hulls but some of the swans’ heads were telescoping above the canoes’ edge. I wondered how the birds were processing all of this. But what struck me more than the idle thoughts of the swans were the faces of our team radiant with delight. I knew that like me, when any one of us could see these creatures up close and aid in their recovery, we counted ourselves as lucky.

Last year, Matteson’s trumpeter swan banding program was brought to a successful close. Trumpeter swans doubled their recovery goal of 20 breeding pairs by 2000, and were removed from the endangered species list in 2009. Today the numbers stand at an all time high of nearly 200 nesting pairs in 23 Wisconsin counties. This news came to me with mixed emotions as I realized this might be a once in a lifetime experience but also meant the success of a conservation program and recovery of a species.