Click here for audio sample of swans Formerly known as whistling swans, tundra swans are regular migrants through the Alma area. They reach a peak population of 2,000 - 6,000 from mid to late November. The head is rounded with a slightly concave bill. Immature swans are grayish sometimes brownish white with darker heads.
Tundra swans carry their necks erect when on the water.
With a wingspread to about 7 feet males weigh around 20 lbs. Females are slightly smaller than males. Sometimes tundras are mistaken for snow geese which are much smaller birds with black wing tips and for pelicans, or egrets. Where Found Tundra swans nest in the tundra or sheltered marshes on the Alaskan and Canadian coast near the Arctic Circle. The swans which migrate through here winter in flocks on shallow ponds, lakes and estuaries along the east coast near the Chesapeake Bay and in the marshes of Virginia and North Carolina.