This is a bit of a late chime in, but here is my opinion on the Trumpeter Swans. I read with interest the discussion of Trumpeter Swans in New York State. It has been ten years since I observed my first Trumpeter Swan in New York, and I have had several subsequent observations since that time. Each year the question of countability comes up among the observers. I read the article provided by Andy Guthrie and the NYSARC criteria for acceptance of species to the state list. The article infers that an established breeding population must exist before the species will be accepted by NYSARC. This is of course not a criteria for a species to be accepted to the New York list or many species would never have been added. Vagrants and range expansion individuals are regularly accepted to our list. There could be much discussion about this species, but one thing that is clear from our records is that naturally occurring migrants and vagrants have been arriving from the Ontario population for many years. Some of these birds have remained to start their own breeding populations, which if I read correctly, are on the verge of being established in New York in their own right. Ontario has met the criteria to declare the species as established and has considered it thus since 2007. I would be interested to know if there are other instances when NYSARC has not accepted another state, province or country’s decision on whether or not a species is established. We currently have at least one bird present and seen by multiple observers to be a tagged individual from an accepted established population outside the United States. There is no question of provenance. . In my humble opinion, the appropriate action for NYSARC to take is to add Trumpeter Swan to the New York State list. I certainly hope that reports will be filed on this bird to ensure that happens. John Haas
-- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
