People who shoot trumpeter swans sometimes do it out of uncaring or malice.

- Ornithologist Jim D. Wilson

I’ve seen both tundra swans and snow geese in flight, and I don’t understand how hunters can confuse trumpeter swans with snow geese. The St. Joseph News-Press gives an account from the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, Missouri:

According to a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) press release, eight trumpeter swans arrived at the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area in southern Boone County (near Columbia) on the night of Dec. 29.

The following morning, an unknown number of guys hunting snow geese allegedly failed to identify their targets and killed five of the swans. After being caught, the violators apparently told conservation agents they “mistook” them for snow geese.

What’s odd about this particular incident and the hunters’ explanation about their case of mistaken identity was the fact that conservation agents were immediately notified of the incident by law-abiding waterfowl hunters who were nearby and witnessed the shootings. They readily identified the birds as trumpeter swans.

For those who may not be familiar with trumpeter swans, or snow geese for that matter, both birds are predominately white, but that’s where the similarities end. Trumpeters, like other swans, have a very long neck relative to their body size and the feathers of adults are all white.

Trumpeters are the largest native birds in North America with wing spans approaching 8 feet. They average 55 to 65 inches in length and tip the scales at around 20 to 25 pounds. The birds fly with their long necks outstretched. They also have black bills and black legs and feet.

Compare this to snow geese during their white phase (snow geese go through different color phases), which have easily recognizable black wing feathers and much shorter necks. Snow geese also have pink-colored legs and bills.

Snow geese are also significantly smaller than swans, averaging only 29 to 31 inches in length and tipping the scales at a mere 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 pounds. The wingspan of an average snow goose is nearly 3 feet less than a trumpeter swan. The two different waterfowl species should have been easily distinquished, especially within shotgun range.

Jim D. Wilson, an ornithologist with conservation department, said it best in a press release in November of 1997 when he said “People who shoot trumpeter swans sometimes do it out of uncaring or malice.”

The Chicago Tribune gives another account of supposed mistaken identity from the Mermet Lake Conservation Area, Illinois:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say hunters thought they were shooting at a snow goose but actually killed a rare trumpeter swan at a conservation area in far southern Illinois.

Supervisor Chris McGinness says the bird was shot when it flew over two duck blinds in a public hunting area at the Mermet Lake Conservation Area.

McGinness says three duck hunters – two in one blind and one in another – shot at the swan that they misidentified as a snow goose. He says all three men have expressed remorse.

Federal investigators will determine which of the three is responsible for the swan’s death.

On identifying trumpeter swans from snow geese consider the Trumpeter Swan Society’s swan/goose identification brochure and this information from Today’s THV, AR:

Trumpeter swans bear only a superficial resemblance to snow geese, as the swans are several times larger than snow geese. Trumpeter swans are all white. Snow geese have black wing tips.

Trumpeter swans are the largest birds native to North America. Adult males measure 57 to 64 inches long and weigh around 25 pounds. Adult females range from 55 to 60 inches and weigh approximately 20 pounds. Their wingspans can approach 8 feet, and they fly with their extremely long necks outstretched.

About 5,000 trumpeter swans live in the Midwest area of the United States, most of them in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan with some moving south into Missouri.

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