Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

So why are trumpeter swans an icon of Yellowstone? Well, in 1933, the trumpeter swan population of the lower 48, and it was thought the total population was down to 33 individuals.

And it was primarily in Yellowstone, because Yellowstone was already set aside as a national park in 1872. and in what's now Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, probably because these areas, especially then, were remote.

And other places, they used to be all across North America.

But they were hunted.

By the early 20th century, the species had nearly disappeared from the contiguous United States.

Around 1930, approximately 70 trumpeter swans remained in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, including Yellowstone National Park, in what is now Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, in southwestern Montana.

These surviving birds became essential to the species' recovery.

Wildlife researchers began documenting swans more carefully in the late 1920s.

The park's resident population eventually reached a record peak of 72 birds in 1961, but numbers declined after that.

Nest flooding, predation, human disturbance, environmental changes, and wetland loss have all contributed to that.

Ending a supplementary winter feeding program at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and draining winter ponds in the early 1990s further reduce suitable winter habitat for the swans.

The National Park Service recorded 29 swans in Yellowstone in 2023, including 26 adults and three cygnets.