Cygnus columbianus

The cygnet, known as Tundra Swan, has three subspecies and is a large waterfowl of the genus Cygnus in the family Anatidae.

Cygnets like to cluster, and often show small or family group activities except during the breeding period. They sometimes mingle with whooper swans and move with extreme caution, often moving far away from people and other dangerous objects. When swimming and perching in the water, they are often far from the shore. Sexually active, upright neck when swimming. The call is high and clear, and often a little noisy.

Cygnets feed mainly on the leaves, roots, stems and seeds of aquatic plants, but also eat a small number of snails, mollusks, aquatic insects and other small aquatic animals, and sometimes eat seeds, seedlings and grain of crops. Often in small groups or family groups foraging, before foraging there is often a pair of continuous reconnaissance over the foraging site, to confirm that there is no danger before foraging, during the foraging period also from time to time to stretch the neck to observe around, the action is extremely cautious and careful.

Cygnets breed in the Arctic tundra between June and July, in pairs of one male and one female. Male and female pairs are fixed after pairing, and new pairs are formed only between individuals participating in breeding for the first time or between individuals who have lost a mate. Most pairs are formed during the spring migration. There will also be a fight between males for females, when the two males stretch their necks to each other, beat each other with two wings constantly, while the whole body feathers are upright, and then pounced on each other until one is defeated and runs away. The courtship display takes place on the ground, much like a ritualized celebration, starting with the male bird constantly walking and chirping in front of the female bird, and the female bird also stretching out his neck, sometimes slightly raising his wings and constantly stirring, and then they both fly to another place and repeat the same action. Nest building usually begins immediately upon arrival at the breeding grounds in late May to early June. The nests are mostly built on grassy tundra ground between lakes and ponds of different sizes and on small mounds in tundra swamps, but also on open tundra near river bays and bays. The nest is mainly composed of reeds, trilinea and other hay, and is covered with velvet feathers and shaped like a disc. Nest building is undertaken by the female bird alone, and she has a habit of using old nests, usually by slightly repairing the previous year's old nest. Two to five eggs are laid in each clutch, and the eggs are white. The female incubates the eggs and the male acts as a guard. Incubation period is 29 to 30 days. The chicks are early sex and can walk soon after hatching and can fly after 40 to 45 days.

Cygnets leave the breeding grounds in late August and early September for the wintering grounds, and move from the wintering grounds to the breeding grounds in mid-to-late March of the following year. They usually migrate in small or family groups of 6 to 10 individuals. The migration is carried out gradually, often stopping in the lake area where there is plenty of food along the way, sometimes even until the day becomes cold before gradually moving south, so the time to reach the winter ground in southern China is mostly in early November to mid-late November. Arrival at the breeding grounds is usually between late May and early June.

The global population of cygnets is relatively abundant, estimated at more than 300,000 (Wetlands International 2006). The wintering population in China is about 50-10,000 individuals, and about 100-10,000 breeding pairs reside in Russia. The named subspecies of cygnets is abundant and the population is large. According to the statistics in 1972, the population is about 146,000. The Russian subspecies is less numerous. According to surveys conducted in Europe during the wintering period, the overwintering population is estimated to be 6,000 to 7,000 individuals. Populations have increased in recent years, with an estimated 16,000 wintering populations in Europe and 20,000 wintering populations in East Asia. This subspecies is currently considered to be a vulnerable species and has attracted the attention of various countries. Cygnets were once abundant in China. The migration season is abundant in the northeast coast of Hebei, swamps and rivers, and in winter in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake. In recent years, the population has declined significantly due to hunting and environmental degradation. The cygnet was included in the national List of wildlife under key protection, which strengthened protection and resulted in an increase in the population. According to the 1990 Asian midwinter waterbird survey organized by the International Waterfowl Research Bureau, the current population of overwintering cygnets in China is 3,032, and that in Japan is 15,006. From February to March 2009, the aerial survey of birds in Poyang Lake area of Jiangxi Province counted about 410,000 waterfowl, including about 53,600 cygnets.

In August 2022, the Qinghai Provincial Forestry and Grass Bureau announced at the provincial bird protection and management press conference that "the national second-class key protected wild animal cygnets are rare and rare bird species with records but no video records in Qinghai."

Listed on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Not Threatened (LC), 2012 assessment.

Listed in the List of National Key Protected Wild Animals: National second-class protected animals (effective on December 10, 1988). Note: Swans (all species, Cygnus spp.)

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It is mainly distributed in northern Europe and northern Asia, wintering in Europe, Central Asia, China and Japan.
Native species distribution areas: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ma Chiton, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan of China, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States.
Range: Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Bermuda, Gibraltar, Guam, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Northern Mariana Islands, Oman, Spain, Portugal, St. Pierre and Miququillans, United Arab Emirates, United States Virgin Islands.
It is mainly distributed in northeast China, Inner Mongolia, northern Xinjiang and North China,

Field identification characteristics: large waterfowl, weight 4~7 kg, body length 110~135 cm. The whole body is white, the mouth end is black, the mouth base is yellow, the appearance is very similar to the whooper swan, but the body size is obviously smaller than the whooper swan, the neck and mouth are shorter than the whooper swan, the black spot on the mouth is large, the yellow spot is small, the yellow spot is limited to the two sides of the mouth base, along the mouth edge under the nose; The sound is crisp, with a "Kou-kou" whistle rather than the trumpet of a whooper swan. In the wild it's not hard to tell. Snow geese and cygnets are also similar, with white bodies, but snow geese are smaller in size, red mouth, no black spots on the mouth, primary flight feathers are black, the tail is black when standing, and the wing tips are black when flying, which is obviously different from cygnets.
Both sexes are of the same color, the female body is slightly smaller,