Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)

Tundra Swan [lateral view of adult]. Photograph Credit: David L. Roemer; Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky; 24 January 2011.

Abundance: Very Uncommon; at least 17 records from 10 Regional counties, 5 in Kentucky and 5 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the population migrating through the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Transient; late fall (3 records) to mid-winter (14 records) but with no records of overwintering; photographs (see above and links below).

Regional High Count: 3 (penultimate record below).

Information on Records: 

30 December 1970 (2—age unspecified) Barren County, Kentucky (fide Russell Starr; KW 47: 12, 14), CBC record.

2–11 January 1991 (1—immature) Pulaski County, Kentucky (Jackie B. Elmore, Sr.; Stamm and Monroe 1991b).

6–7 December 1991 (2—adults) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman photo, BHS et al.; Stedman 1992; Stedman 1993), photo.

18–19 December 1991 (2—adults) c. 5 km north of Sparta on Rt. 111, White County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; also reported a few days earlier by Thomas Roberts; Stedman 1992), probably the same swans as noted in the preceding record.

10–11 January 1999 (1—juvenile) near Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Linda McClendon, Roseanna M. Denton photo).

7 November 1999 (1—flyover) Alpine, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton, Steve Denton).

15 November 1999 (2—adults) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer; Busroe 2000a).

27 November 1999 (flock—heard only) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer).

11 December 1999 (1—immature) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Neil Dziepak photo; Casteel 2000a), photo.

27 December 2004 (2—immatures) Cooley's Pond, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo, Connie S. Neeley, Stephen J. Stedman; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2005b), photo; CBC record.

12 January 2006 (1—immature) Dale Hollow Lake, Pickett County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Craig Norris, Ben Gore).

7 December 2006 (1—immature) Twin Lakes, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo).

15 February 2007 (1—immature) Wolf Creek Dam, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

25 February/8 February 2009 (1—immature) Mason Grissom Rd./Rt. 288 c. 0.5 km south of intersection with Rayburn-Walling Rd., Warren County, Tennessee (N. P. "Mac" McWhirter/Edmund K. LeGrand, Stephen J. Stedman).

19 & 24 January 2011 (1—adult) Barren River Reservoir, Barren/Allen counties, Kentucky (David L. Roemer photo).

19–20 February 2011 (3—immatures) Clay County, Tennessee (Terry M. Campbell photo [on latter date]).

1February 2020 (1—immature) Metcalfe County, Kentucky (Rickey Shive photo (eBird # S64017730).

Out-of-Season Records: see Remarks (below).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Fall: 7 November 1999 (Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton, Steve Denton), but see also Remarks (below).

    Late Spring: 20 February 2011 (Clay County, Tennessee; Terry M. Campbell), but see also Remarks (below).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: Ponds and lakes of all sizes, generally with shallow areas.

Remarks: This swan was reported without date or specific location from Warren County, Tennessee, by C. Douglas Malone (pers. com).

    Six large white waterfowl observed at Cedar Hill Dock, Lake Cumberland, 29 September 1929 (Russell Starr; Starr 1955) may have pertained to this species, but the date of the sighting certainly argues otherwise.  A Tundra Swan observed 28–29 August 1982 near Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky (Russell Starr; Stamm 1983a) was a remarkably early fall migrant if accurately identified.  A swan sp. observed 24 January 2001–February 2001 on Dale Hollow Lake, Clay County, Tennessee (Danny Stone fide Terry M. Campbell) probably belonged to this species; if so, its presence would have extended the Regional period of occurrence for Tundra Swan.  The only spring record Regionally, if correct, involved 2–4 Tundra Swans reported at a small wooded pond in Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee, 18 March and 2 April 1990 (Jospeh W. Wahl; Stedman 1993).  All of these records are treated as hypothetical here.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited