Yesterday I posted a single picture without comment: Shades of white. I had just photographed a swan by the water’s edge and was so entranced by the beauty of its spread wings that I quickly picked one shot and posted it.
Rewrite When posted yesterday, I came to the conclusion that the swan was a Tundra. Rick Howie has persuaded me that it is a Trumpeter Swan. Consequently, this posting has been rewritten.
However, this lovely creature deserves more: Which species is it? It is usually seen swimming and feeding, so why was it now standing? Was yesterday’s image choice the best?
My initial impression was that this was a Trumpeter Swan—despite a subsequent day spent suspecting it to be a Tundra. Some signs of it being a Trumpeter are: The bill is massive, long, and flat (not concave); The eye is partially enclosed by the black of the beak and not perched out on the end of the black as in Tundra; Also telling is the way it is holding its neck in this picture. This is a classic trumpeter pose with the head almost appearing to arise out of the back as opposed to rising from the front of the breast. Tundras have a shorter neck and do not do this.
One of the pictures included a mallard and this enabled me to measure the ratio of swan/mallard body lengths. The value, about 2.6 corresponds to the trumpeter/mallard ratio and is much much larger than the tundra/mallard ratio of 2.2. The swan is preening, which appears to be the reason it is out of the water.
The U shaped boundary between the forehead and bill (which I thought was definitive) turns out to be found in Trumpeters also, so was not a good guide.
However, my comments on the final picture still stand. I suggested that I might have acted too quickly in choosing the previous day’s image as my favourite. I think that this was the shot of the day.
Yesterday’s image was lovely, but the last in today’s series is special. A flock of crows is often called a “Murder”. I have heard swans together can be called a “Lamentation”. Was this Tundra Swan among others?
Marie, this swan was alone—assuming you ignore about a dozen geese and nearly as many mallards.
Hi Alistair: in photo #2, note how the angle of view makes the forehead feathering look almost straight across or at best, a shallow U-shape and not in a V-shape as one expects in a Trumpeter. Even in photo #3, the V-shape is not pronounced. This is an excellent illustration of how deceptive that trait can be, depending upon viewing conditions.
As usual, you have captured some wonderful poses and continue to display the charms of the West Kootenay in a stimulating fashion. I enjoy the website immensely.
The principal dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet would envy such a regalia displaying pose as in the last shot.