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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Cygnus columbianus
Tundra Swan

 
Scientific Name: Cygnus columbianus (Ord, 1815)
English Name: Tundra Swan
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: B-TUSW
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Aves Anseriformes Anatidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S3N (Mar 2015)
BC List: Blue
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2005)
Migratory Bird Convention Act: Y
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Breeding begins late May to June. Female incubates 5, sometimes 3-7 eggs for 30-32 days. Peak hatching usually is in late June-early July in Beaufort Sea region. Single-brooded. Young can fly at about 9-10 weeks, remain with the adults until the following spring (Harrison 1978). Probably first breeds at 3 years (may establish territory at 2 years). Substantial portion of birds in breeding areas may be nonbreeders. Highest nest density in Alaska: 1.5 nests per sq km in Yukon-Kuskokwim River delta (see Johnson and Herter 1989).
Global Ecology Comments: May gather in large flocks to feed. Family groups of 6-7 individuals may form flocks and move together.
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Nearly all swans nesting along Beaufort Sea coast winter on Atlantic coast and migrate through Mackenzie Valley and along Yukon coast in spring (Johnson and Herter 1989). Northward migration over interior U.S. usually occurs in March-April. May arrive in some nesting areas as early as March; begins to arrive in Beaufort Sea area mid- to late May (Johnson and Herter 1989). Fall migration in Beaufort Sea region September-October; nesters from northeastern Alaska and Yukon North Slope migrate south through Mackenzie Valley to Peace-Athabasca delta, Alberta, where they apparently mix with western Alaska birds that nested in Yukon River delta; both populations congregate in large numbers at lakes Claire and Richardson in Peace-Athabasca delta before continuing overland to wintering areas (Johnson and Herter 1989).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Facultative - frequent use
Agriculture / Hedgerow / Facultative - frequent use
Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Facultative - occasional use
Lakes / Lake / Facultative - frequent use
Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Facultative - frequent use
Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Facultative - occasional use
Other Unique Habitats / Estuary / Facultative - frequent use
Other Unique Habitats / Mudflats - Intertidal / Facultative - occasional use
Riparian / Riparian Herbaceous / Facultative - occasional use
Stream/River / Stream/River / Facultative - occasional use
Wetland / Bog / Facultative - frequent use
Wetland / Fen / Facultative - frequent use
Wetland / Marsh / Facultative - frequent use
Wetland / Swamp / Facultative - frequent use
Global Habitat Comments: Lakes, sloughs, rivers, sometimes fields, in migration. Open tundra marshy lakes and ponds and sluggish streams in summer. Shallow lakes, ponds, and estuaries in winter. Breeds on tundra near open water. Usually nests on islets or along shoreline of ponds, but may nest as far as 1/2 mile from water. The nest is a mound (1-2 ft x 2-3 ft) of mosses, grasses, and sedges (Terres 1980). Same site may be used in successive years.
Food Habits: Herbivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Feeds primarily on aquatic plants. Sago pondweed is a favorite food during brood-rearing period and molt (Johnson and Herter 1989). Also eats grasses, sedges and thin-shelled mollusks. Forages while swimming on the surface of the water, with head and neck below surface; roots and digs at plants, stimulating their growth.
Global Phenology: Diurnal: Adult, Immature
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 132/ / 7100
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: BREEDS: Alaska and Canadian low Arctic; northern Russia east along Arctic coast to northern Siberia. WINTERS: mainly on Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America from southern British Columbia to California and from New Jersey to South Carolina; Eurasia south to British Isles, northern Europe, southeastern Asia. Accidental in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere (AOU 1998). In the U.S., primary wintering areas include the Atlantic coast from northern South Carolina to southern New Jersey, the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake, and central and northern California (Root 1988).
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Mar 18, 1994
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I.McT. Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G. Kaiser, and M.C.E. McNall. 1990. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 1. Nonpasserines: Introduction, Loons through Waterfowl. Royal B.C. Mus. in association with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv. 514pp.
Castelli, P. M., and J. E. Applegate. 1989. Economic loss caused by tundra swans feeding in cranberry bogs. Trans. Northeast Sect. Wildl. Soc. 46:17-23.
Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
Kortright, F.H. 1967. The ducks, geese, and swans of North America. The Stackpole Company, Harrisburg, PA, and Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, D.C. 476 pp.
Lumsden, H. G. 1984. The pre-settlement breeding distribution of trumpeter, CYGNUS BUCCINATOR, and tundra swans, C. COLUMBIANUS, in eastern Canada. Can. Field-Nat. 98:415-424.
Meng, A., R. E. Carter, and D. T. Parkin. 1990. The variability of DNA fingerprints in three species of swan. Heredity 64:73-80.
Pratt, H. D., P. L. Bruner, and D. G. Berrett. 1987. A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 409 pp. + 45 plates.
Root, T. 1988. Atlas of wintering North American birds: An analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. University of Chicago Press. 336 pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1988. SEIS 88. Final supplemental environmental impact statement: issuance of annual regulations permitting the sport hunting of migratory birds. x + 340 pp.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Cygnus columbianus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Oct 3, 2026).