(Cygnus cygnus buccinator)
Location: Alaska, western coast of Canada, the state of Washington and Northwest Wyoming
Habitat: Marshes, lakes or rivers with dense vegetation

The beautiful white plumage and horn-like call makes it easy to distinguish the trumpeter swan. This bird has a loud "honk" due to its elongated windpipe. When the flock takes flight, the calls help keep the birds together. The male and female will mate for life and are very protective of their young.

These birds were nearly driven to the brink of extinction at the turn of the 20th century. They were easy to kill because they lose their wing feathers and become flightless for one month each summer. Fortunately, in 1918 the U.S. Federal Government passed the Migratory Bird Act, which made it illegal to hunt these and other migratory birds. The trumpeter swans' numbers have now topped close to 20,000 birds in North America due to reintroducing programs, but they are not out of the woods yet. Many of these birds are continuing to lose their wintering and nesting grounds to habitat destruction.

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