MIGRATION BEHAVIOR OF TUNDRA SWANS FROM THE YUKON-KUSKOKWIM DELTA, ALASKA

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.