While there's still a threat that dozens of trumpeter swans could starve to death at Harriman State Park this winter, biologists believe the future is bright for the elegant birds.
"We're all optimistic," said Lauri Hanauska-Brown, an Idaho Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist. "Things seem to be breaking our way."
Biologists believe Harriman has enough food for 300 birds, but in the past couple of years, as many as 1,000 have descended on the Henry's Fork, Golden Lake and Silver Lake, the state's main wintering areas inside the 11,000-acre park.
If 1,000 birds return and the park's water freezes for a couple of weeks, swans will die, biologists say.
Drought conditions, such as the current situation, also can exacerbate the problem by killing off the aquatic vegetation that trumpeters eat.
But this year, the first major break has been the mild weather, which has allayed fears about a major starvation-induced die-off.
The region's small number of resident trumpeters has been able to feed without problems so far this winter, allowing them to add much-needed weight for January, February and March, when much of their aquatic food can be covered by ice.
At the same time, early indications show that last winter's swan relocation effort aimed at decreasing the threat of the die-off seems to have worked. Biologists moved 48 young swans last year to Bear River near Preston, hoping the young birds would build winter homes there, instead of crowding back into Harriman every winter. They also hazed birds out of the park with snowmobiles and noise makers.
Despite the year's mild weather, five cygnets already have returned to Bear River, prompting biologists to believe more will head to Bear River when the weather gets colder.
"It's too early to measure any level of success, but five birds are hanging out at Bear River, which means the transplant effort worked to some extent," Hanauska-Brown said.
Others in the department are more pragmatic.
"Until we get some hard winter weather and see where the birds are going, we aren't going to know what is happening," said Tom Hemker, Fish and Game's state waterfowl manager. "We have to do this for a couple of years to see what the long-term behavior of the transplanted birds."
Biologists say most of the migration - roughly 580 birds - has stopped for the time being at Montana's Hebgen Lake. When it gets colder, biologists hope most of last year's transplanted birds will skip over Harriman for Bear River on their southward migration.
"We want to get as many birds out of Harriman as possible, and so far we're optimistic it's working," Hanauska-Brown said.
The plight of trumpeters at Harriman has been an issue for more than a decade.
Some people, such as Ruth Shea of the Trumpeter Swan Foundation, believe that the 300 birds that live year-round in the Yellowstone National Park region are genetically separate from Canada's trumpeters and are on the verge of extinction.
Trumpeters are common in Canada, and when they travel south to winter at places like Harriman, Shea worries they will eat the local birds out of house and home.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning a genetic study of swans in the coming years, Hanauska-Brown said. If the region's birds are genetically separate from their Canadian cousins, the local population could be listed as an endangered species.
Because of the threat of that listing, Fish and Game biologists have worried about a major die-off for the past three years. Last year, biologists braced for a huge die-off, but only 14 birds died.
So far this year, biologists have captured 61 cygnets, 31 of which were moved to Bear River. The others will stay at Harriman so biologists can track them.
Biologists have collared the birds and painted a wing on each pink so they can track their movements. They hope to capture 100 birds this winter.
Hanauska-Brown is asking people who spot a trumpeter with a pink wing or a green collar to call her at 525-7290.
Rob Thornberry is the Post Register's outdoor editor. He can be reached at 542-6795, or via e-mail at rthornberry@idahonews
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