Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus columbianus) fitted with satellite tr
ansmitters (PTTs) on the outer coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delt
a, Alaska, migrated eastward across the Y-K Delta in late September an
d stopped at wetlands on the west side of the Alaska Range during earl
y October. After crossing the Alaska Range, swans stopped briefly on t
he Susitna Flats of Upper Cook Inlet. They then migrated eastward into
the Yukon, Canada, and from there flew southward, paralleling the Wra
ngell Mountains through the interior of the Yukon to a staging area in
northeastern British Columbia. They gradually migrated through centra
l Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan and across Montana to a staging a
rea in southeastern Idaho. They remained in southeastern Idaho from mi
d-November until early December when they migrated across Nevada to th
e 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 migratio
n 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.