Bewick's Swan at Aylmer Wildlife Management Area

This Bewick's Swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii is the Euro-Asian subspecies of the Tundra Swan. It does not breed in North America, but is closely related to our Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus columbianus. It has a much larger yellow patch on the bill and overall it is slightly smaller than the Tundra Swan. It is very rare in eastern North America. 17 March 2019.

VIDEO of it feeding on corn with Tundra Swans at Aylmer on 17 March 2019

This bird is migrating with Tundra Swans, which have come from Chesapeake Bay area of the Atlantic coast and are going to the Arctic to breed. The Eastern Population breeds east of Point Hope in Alaska right across the Canadian Arctic to Baffin Island and south to the Hudson Bay coast in Ontario.winters primarily on the Atlantic Coast.

The Ontario Bird Records Committee accepted a record from Aylmer on 19 March 2017, and this could be the same bird returning.

Thanks to Mourad Jabra who found this bird on 15 March 2019, I was able to see this subspecies in Ontario. Aylmer Wildlife Management Area on 17 March 2019.