The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) is the largest flying bird in North America.  Its brassy call was once commonly heard during the winter months in the United States’ Mid-Atlantic, though it is no longer.  Hunted almost to extinction in the early 1900s, small populations survived, breeding and wintering in remote areas far from hunters.  Through natural dispersion, and re-introduction efforts, the Trumpeter Swan population is recovering, though the Trumpeter Swan’s Eastern migration has yet to be restored. 

Swans, like geese and cranes, learn a migration route from their parents (as opposed to migrating instinctively like a Robin).  Therefore, to restore this migration, young Trumpeter Swans must be taught this migration route. 

The Swan Research Program with William Lishman of Operation Migration, developed the "Ultralight Technique," a method of using ultralight aircraft to teach lost migration routes to geese, swans and cranes, as fictionalized in the Hollywood movie Fly Away Home.  The Ultralight Technique is currently being used to restore a population of migrating Whooping Cranes by Operation Migration. 

In the Ultralight Technique, birds are trained by human surrogate parents to follow them in an ultralight aircraft.  Once accustomed to flying beind these vehicles, the birds are led upon a pre-selected migration route.  The birds will then fly this migration route themselves, and later teach it to their offspring by leading them on their first migration.    

Never satisfied with success, SRP scientists are continually researching new methods of restoring Trumpeter Swans to the Atlantic Flyway.  Having first tested “Passive Migration,” a technique in which caged Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) were transported along a short migration under a gas balloon.  This technique has evolved into some new ideas that we are exploring.