Trumpeter swans have been a part of the James H. Barrow Biological Field Station for nearly 40 years. Although they have intermittently been absent over the years, the Field Station staff has increased efforts during the past two decades to ensure that swans live on the property as part of a trumpeter swan restoration and management program.
The Observation Building Pond at the Field station is home to many ducks, geese, and other waterfowl, but more recently it has again become home to a pair of trumpeter swans.
During the summer of 2018, a female cygnet was rescued from the pond and raised by the Field Station staff throughout the following winter months. Knowing that swans often form lifelong pair bonds, an injured adult male was acquired from the Lake Erie Science and Nature Center in November 2018. After months of rehabilitation for both birds, the male and female swans were introduced indoors during the spring of 2019 and released to the pond this fall.
It has been a tradition for many years that the swans hold names of Greek mythology. Student workers and staff members from the Field Station selected three sets of names for the pair of swans: Percy (Perseus) and Annie (Andromeda); Apollo and Luna; and Phoenix and Bennu. Voting was then opened to the Hiram community in the latest edition of the Hiram Magazine.
Receiving nearly half of the votes, the pair of swans were given the names Apollo and Luna. Read more about their story in the Winter 2020 edition of the Hiram Magazine.
by Jenelle Bayus
