MOUND CITY, Mo. — Missouri conservationists’ decades of work to save a species of swan has led to a new record.
A weekly survey recorded nearly 4,200 trumpeter swans at the Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in Holt County, Missouri. It’s a new record count for the northern Missouri refuge, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
The trumpeter swan was once almost extinct in the lower 48 states, but conservationists have been working to boost their population.
“Like many other waterfowl, if they’ve found adequate resources one year, they are more likely to come back,” Frank Nelson, MDC wetland systems manager, said in a release. “Over the years we’ve seen this success build as the numbers have increased.”
Trumpeter swans once nested in northern Missouri, the MDC said, and that could happen again if their numbers keep growing.
But a hard freeze at Loess Bluffs’ wetlands could prompt the swans to seek water somewhere else, according to the MDC. That means they might be seen at other lakes or rivers further south.
The agency said trumpeter swans are the heaviest flying bird in North America.
“In the past, seeing these massive birds was a rarity and a special treat to see one or two,” Nelson said. “The fact that there were several thousand at Loess Bluffs is a nice success story.”
