Last fall, Erik Thorson, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, captured 20 adult tundra swans on river pools 4 through 9 and marked them with black colored neck bands and radio transmitters. This year, the study will involve marking 23 more adult birds and an additional 30 young or cygnets. The study is designed to monitor the swans to determine where and when they move between pools and within individual pools and how long individual swans stay on the river. Monitoring is done both during the day and at night to record areas being used by the swans and their activity patterns - resting and others. Capturing of the birds occurs at night using a spotlight, large net and a canoe equipped with a trolling motor.
Researchers attempt to approach swans in the darkness without being detected.
A new technique utilizing a net-gun will be used this year. They will also be incorporating video cameras to aid with surveys. The number of tundra swans using the river as a migrational stopping-point has increased over the years. The project is a cooperative effort between the University of Minnesota, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources. The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge pages are formatted for Mosasic defaults.