Cygnus buccinator
Silhouette: Xavier Giroux-Bougard · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator), or simply the trumpeter, is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl, with a wingspan of 185 to 304.8 cm (6 ft 2 in to 10 ft 2 in). It is the American counterpart and a close relative of the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) of Eurasia and has even been considered the same species by some authorities. By 1933, fewer than 70 wild individuals were known to exist; extinction seemed imminent until aerial surveys discovered a Pacific population of several thousand trumpeter swans around Alaska's Copper River. Careful reintroductions by wildlife agencies and the Trumpeter Swan Society gradually restored the North American wild population to over 46,000 birds by 2010.
The trumpeter swan was formally described in 1831 by the Scottish naturalist John Richardson in the fourth volume of American Ornithology; or, The Natural History of Birds Inhabiting the United States by Alexander Wilson and Charles Bonaparte. Richardson coined the current binomial name Cygnus buccinator. A description by Richardson was also published in Fauna Boreali-Americana... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Voyageurs National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Katmai National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Isle Royale National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 11 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Elk Island National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 13 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 15 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 16 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Metroparks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Wildlife Prairie Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Wildlife Prairie Park East Side | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Northwest Trek Wildlife Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Zoo sauvage Saint-Félicien | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toronto Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Kansas City Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Love Lake | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 15 | The Exotic Resort Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Los Angeles Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | The Maryland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Detroit Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Dakota Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Saint Louis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Caldwell Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Dickerson Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Memphis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 27 | Tierpark Cottbus | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 28 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 29 | British Columbia Wildlife Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 30 | Akron Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | bioparco | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 32 | Lincoln Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 33 | Little Rock Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 34 | Alaska Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Riverside Park and Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 37 | Topeka Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 38 | Queens Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | Stone Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 40 | Safari Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 41 | Zootah at Willow Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 42 | David Traylor Zoo of Emporia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 43 | Prospect Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 44 | Shepreth Wildlife Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 45 | Tracy Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 46 | Central Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 47 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 48 | Wild Discovery Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 49 | Sobela Ocean Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 50 | Bois d'Attilly | 🇫🇷 France |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Trumpeter Swan sighting in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, based on 1,810 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 197 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Trumpeter Swan in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Trumpeter Swan sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Trumpeter Swan sightings, Yellowstone National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (United States, about 30%).
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the Trumpeter Swan that you can see in Yellowstone National Park (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Canada Goose (about 60%), Mallard (about 50%) and Lesser Scaup (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Trumpeter Swan is recorded against all the birds logged in Yellowstone National Park (1,810 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
