Peeks into the life of aBewick’s Swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii: the journey of Yellow 047T
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21248/corax.v25.166Abstract
In December 2021 the male Bewick’s Swan Yellow 047T was GPS-tagged together with his offspring White 365E and White 367E in Lower Saxony, Germany, as one of the few family units. At that time the female partner was not present. Soon after the capture, the family flew to Schleswig-Holstein, where they stayed for 74 days from January to March (2.5 month), the longest period of stay of the newly transmitted swans in 2021/2022. The family of Yellow 047T stayed in the two southern census areas Hasenmoor and Hörner Au. The transmitter data showed a detailed picture of the family‘s home range and changes between night roosts. But without
visual observations, these changes are difficult to interpret from the GPS data alone. However, the family of Yellow 047T held the observation record in the season 2021/2022 and was observed almost daily. Field observations revealed a disturbance at a feeding site in January, which caused the family to fly a loop of about 100 km and not return to the usual night roost and feeding site until the next day. Furthermore, the transmitter data gave a good insight into the migration route and persistence of the family. In the 2022/2023 season, Yellow 047T was observed with a new family, including a partner and two offspring, but this time they stayed in
different areas than in the previous year.
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