It is uncommon on fresh water near the coast, and does not breed in Oregon. The surf scoter is abundant on salt water along the coast from fall through spring and uncommon during summer. A flattened head profile and heavier bill distinguish this species from other scoters. The highly visible standard advertises male's presence for up to a mile.ĭark-billed adult females and subadults are dark brown above and paler brown below, with two indistinct light patches on the cheeks and sometimes on the nape. Trumpeter swans are an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Blue Mountains, East Cascades and Northern Basin and Range ecoregions.Īlthough the least numerous scoter on the continent, it is the most common scoter along the Pacific coast south of Alaska and winters by the thousands off Oregon.Īdult males' plumage, black except for white patches on the forehead and nape, yields attention to the bill, a swollen white, red-orange, yellow, and black wedge feathered squarely along its base. West of the Cascades, wintering birds are most consistently noted in west Polk Count and Sauvie Island, also along the northern coast, lower Columbia River, Forest Grove, and Trojan Nuclear Power Plant. In spring, the trumpeter swan is a locally common breeder east of the Cascades, most notably at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Their neck is as long as their body and is used to reach food at the marsh bottom. The adult's snow-white plumage with contrasting black bill and feet and 8-foot wingspan define this magnificent bird. Historically hunted to the brink of extinction, it was recognized as an endangered species long before there was an Endangered Species Act, and its recovery is a conservation success story. The majestic trumpeter swan is the largest of our native waterfowl and one of the heaviest flying birds in the world with males sometimes exceeding 30 pounds.
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