Migration behavior of Tundra Swans from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska

Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus columbianus) fitted with satellite transmitters (PTTs) on the outer coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta, Alaska, migrated eastward across the Y-K Delta in late September and stopped at wetlands on the west side of the Alaska Range during early October. After crossing the Alaska Range, swans stopped briefly on the Susitna Flats of Upper Cook Inlet. They then migrated eastward into the Yukon, Canada, and from there flew southward, paralleling the Wrangell Mountains through the interior of the Yukon to a staging area in northeastern British Columbia. They gradually migrated through central Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan and across Montana to a staging area in southeastern Idaho. They remained in southeastern Idaho from mid-November until early December when they migrated across Nevada to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California. Spring migration routes were similar to those used in autumn. Band returns and observations of neck-banded swans corroborated the general autumn and spring migration routes of PTT-marked birds. Swans stopped only briefly (<3 days) at staging areas in Alaska and northern Canada but lingered at migration areas in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Idaho.