We already know it s an adult because it's in full white plumage. Juveniles are gray and have a pinkish bill. So we ll sex it first, and weigh it, and take five body measurements. Yep, this is a female. Thorsen says after his initial two-year study on swan movement and population numbers, he wants to find out more about what they eat on the river.
Swans are primarily aquatic foragers, especially on the river here.
We think they re eating wild celery tubers and arrowhead tubers. They do eat a lot of aquatic plants. Wildlife officials want to know how much swans are eating and if they re depleting food supplies for other bird species. Some hunters have suggested a season on the tundra swans could help control their numbers. But wildlife officials say that's unlikely because tundra swans look too much like endangered trumpeter swans that also use the river.