8 replies to this topic

[photobirder]

Seen 4-22-2012 at Bear River Refuge in Utah

http://www.flickr.co.../in/photostream

Thanks for the help.

[jblakelock]

The dirty head is making me think Trumpeter.

[BarnSwallow]

I don't know, it's got a yellow spot in front of the eye.

[yep]

I'm not an expert, but I think I see the yellow spot. The other main difference according to Sibley's (if you can't see the head-on view) is if you follow the border of the bill from the Swan's eye to the lower edge of its bill, Trumpeter has a more-or-less straight line and Tundra has a sharp curve. It looks to me like this bird has that curve there so I'm pretty comfortable calling this a Tundra Swan.

[JimBob]

I agree with Tundra Swan.

[FarAwayEyes]

The yellow triangle in front of the eye declares Tundra Swan.

[Pat B.]

Agree with Tundra. First, that's what 99.9999% of the Swans at BRMBR are, but the yellow lores are clearly visible in your shot, pretty much clinching the ID. Also, agree with Yep's analysis; the photo makes it easy to relate to Sibley's example. As for the dirty head: these guys have been out there since mid-December in very shallow/muddy water, so I doubt that this necessarily indicates Trumpeter. The ones I've seen there, starting in December, were mostly dirty. Most of the Swans have left Bear River by now and maybe this guy just likes to lag behind and play in the mud.

[FarAwayEyes]

Also if the lake has a high iron content it will discolor the head. Sometimes they almost have a rust color head.

[jblakelock]

Thanks for the correction everybody. I saw the whitish speck around the loral, but wasn't sure if it was enough to indicate Tundra.