No Sex Please We're Tundra Swans

Media Release
Erno Rossi, Freelance Writer-Photographer
147 Tennessee Avenue
Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada L3K 2R8
Tel:905-835-9051
E-mail:erossi3@home.com

No Sex Please-We're Tundra Swans

"No sex before marriage please, we're Tundra Swans." That could be the motto of these magnificent white migrants, with black legs and bill, says freelance writer and swan watcher, Erno Rossi of Port Colborne, Ontario. Each spring, they arrive on Lake Erie at Port Colborne, Ontario as part of their northward migration from the Carolinas.

Swans do not marry until their fourth or fifth year. One year before that union, a pair of swans will get ready and "go steady" They set up and defend a home nesting territory in the Arctic, without actually nesting. They practice the basics of good house keeping and survival long before they consummate the union. When satisfied with their mate's behavior, they commit the next spring in full view of the swan watchers in Port Colborne. Once committed, the mating union lasts a few seconds, almost too fast to follow by the human eye. But before consummation, an elaborate wedding ceremony takes place.

The female (pen) will lead the male swan (cob) on a wide circular flight over the heads of thousands of swimming swans as if to say, "This is my mate for life and today we will be united in marriage."

When she lands on the water, she will face her mate and perform a victory display, joined by her mate and other swans. They face each other, extend and wave their wings slowly as they appear to stand on the water. They then bow their heads forward and backward to each other. Then in a duet, they make swan music, a formalized sequence of loud melodious sounds. Consummation follows. But multiply their calls by the thousands that are gathered together and
1

you have a swan lake symphony, a mass migration spectacle, even more melodious at night. Unlike humans, the Tundra Swan is monogamous.

When they reach their Arctic breeding grounds, 6000 km to the north in late May or early June, there is snow on the Arctic tundra and many lakes are still frozen. Yet the swans make a nest, lay 4 to 6 eggs that are warmed by the female and protected by the male. Angry swans are fierce fighters and can drive away many predators from their eggs and babies ( cygnets).

Tundra Swans feed mainly on the tubers and roots of aquatic plants that grow in shallow water. They reach this food by extending the head and neck downward, frequently tipping the body and scrubbing the lake bottom with powerful webbed feet to uncover their food. Clams and zebra mussels are eaten as well.

Tundra Swan numbers have tripled since 1950 to 140,000 birds.