Three days ago I found a collared Tundra Swan in a flock of swans at Bear River MBR. The blue collar caught my eye and I took photos of the swan.
Tundra Swan male with collar U915 on snow covered ice – Nikon D500, f9, 1/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
With my long lens I couldn’t get all of the characters visible at once on the collar on the swan due to its pose on the snow covered ice. I kept watching for an opportunity because I wanted to see and record all of the characters in one frame.
After a bit I was distracted by the other swans. I didn’t want to miss out on my chance with Tundra Swans that were relatively close to me. So I focused on photographing them while trying to keep one eye on the collared swan.
Tundra Swan with U915 collar on the marsh of Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f8, 1/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 95mm, natural light
In the meantime, I decided to grab my Nikon D810 camera, which had my 18-200mm lens already attached, to capture wide-angle photos of the swan flock. As luck would have it I photographed the collared Tundra Swan just before it lifted off in flight. This photo shows the entire code on the collar and showed the code U915.
After I returned home and looked at my swan photos I reported the collar information to the USGS Banded Bird website to see what I could find out about the collared swan.
Collared Tundra Swan U915 USGS Certificate of Appreciation
Just a little over twenty-four hours later an email from the USGS arrived in my inbox with this certificate. The certificate shows that this Tundra Swan is an adult male, that it hatched in 2009 and that it was banded in 2010. The name of the bander was Dennis Marks who is based in Anchorage, Alaska. The location where the swan was banded was Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska.
Interesting side note:
On March 5th of 2015 I photographed two other collared Tundra Swans that were banded the exact same date as this swan. They were also banded by Dennis Marks at the same location! See that post here.
Collared Tundra Swan U915 – Banded in Alaska in 2010 at one year old and sighted at Bear River MBR in 2023
I looked the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska on Google maps and then estimated the miles, as a crow flies, to Bear River MBR in Utah. That came to approximately 2,586 miles. If this swan has returned to the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska and Bear River MBR each year it has currently migrated more than 64,650 in its lifetime. That number is only including fall migration during its hatch year and nothing yet for this year. This Tundra Swan will soon be migrating north to its breeding grounds though.
My report of the Tundra Swan with collar U915 has been added to the USGS database for Tundra Swans. They are also called Whistling Swans and that name is what is seen on the certificate I received.
Banded Birds
Bird banding is important for studying the movement, survival and behavior of birds. About 60 million birds representing hundreds of species have been banded in North America since 1904. About 4 million bands have been recovered and reported.
Personally I have found and reported more than 100 200 banded birds since 2008. The majority of my banded bird reports are for Red Knots in Florida (see note below). I have also found and pointed out banded, collared, and wing tagged birds in Utah and Montana.
To Tundra Swan U915, I hope you live a long life and produce many young. For me, you represent hope on wings.
Life is good.
Mia
Note: After this post was published I pulled up my file on the banded Red Knots I had reported in FL, the final tally was 201.
Click here to see more of my Tundra Swan photos plus facts and information about this species.
He’s a handsome ambassador for his species. I always marvel at how far certain species will migrate between wintering and reproducing sites.
Totally Amazing!
What a wonderful story, hope it lives many more years and visits you again.
What a wonderful encounter, and one out of over a hundred for you. I have reported only a few, most notably a Whooping Crane in south Florida.
I am in awe of these winged emissaries. They have no need of us. Rather they grace us with their magnificence. I hope that this is boy remains wild and free for many more years.
Great story. I know from personal experience how satisfying it is to spot, and report a banded bird’s location and receive this kind of feedback. Well done, Mia.