Trumpeter swans have their encore

Trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) had been wiped out in the wild in much of their range, but efforts to restore the birds to Ontario and parts of the United States have succeeded in returning more than 1,000 trumpeters to their former grounds. Now, the New York Times reports, the swans are broadening their range. North Dakota, Indiana and New York, which don’t have restoration projects, have reported nesting pairs. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas have reported sightings, too. Recovery efforts in Western states have been less successful, though, and biologists worry the birds continue to face threats. “They’re still a fragile species,” Liz Benneian, a volunteer with the Trumpeter Swan Coalition in Ontario, told the Times. “A thousand birds isn’t a lot.”

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