A study on the Behavior of Swans

This topic submitted by Jocie Ellis, Ryan Nootz, Ryan Pearl (ellisje@muohio.edu) at 2:40 pm on 10/11/01. Additions were last made on Friday, April 19, 2002. Section: Myers

Jocie Ellis, Ryan Pearl, Ryan Nootz
Natural Systems
Lab Proposal
10/03/01

A STUDY ON THE BEHAVIOR OF SWANS

Our group has decided to study and observe the actions and reactions of the trumpeter swans residing at the western pond, conveniently located on our very own western campus. The trumpeter swan is the largest swan species and the largest waterfowl species in the world. Widely known and respected for its grace and beauty, we, too, were in awe of the magnificent pair of swans that live so close to us throughout the year. Trumpeter swans mate for life, (which explains why the two near us float so amicably along the water) and generally live between twenty and thirty years. They eat tubers and aquatic vegetation, weigh between twenty and thirty pounds, and have excellent wingspans of seven or eight feet. At the present time, the trumpeter swan is an endangered species in the state of Ohio, and is protected from hunting. Because of massive amounts of hunting in the early 1900’s, the population of the trumpeter swan decreased to 69 members in 1932. The incredibly low number of members created an inability to migrate because of the lack of adults to teach their young this learned behavior. Though swans seem to migrate now, we wondered at great length whether the swans in Oxford lack the ability to migrate or fly, and we also harbored suspicions that their wings are clipped since we’ve never seen them in flying motion. Swans were absent from most Ohio wetland areas, until they began to be slowly reintroduced by the Ohio Division of Wildlife and other organizations.
The basic purpose we want to achieve through our “Study of the Behavior of Swans” lab is to learn more about the behavior of the swans in the context of their environment and in the context of foreign objects and subjects entering that environment. Through experiments, extensive observations and the collection of data, we plan to record the behavior we see in the hopes that this information will help others gain a better understanding of the swans and of the importance of studying animal behavior. Through our tests, we want other students and peers to discover why the swans should be respected and appreciated as valuable members of an aquatic wetland ecosystem. Not only do these excellent specimens bring a sense of peace to passers-by, and add exotic beauty to the campus, they also serve a specific purpose in their niche in the environment around them.
There are a large variety of factors to observe and experiment with, but some of them, such as discovering the sexes of the swans, needed to be discarded because we do not want to harm or negatively interfere with the birds in their natural habitat. Instead, we have several specific tests which we will enact. We will observe the swans from a distance, and also observe them from a distance while we create a ruckus with loud talking. Each of us will approach the swans individually, and we will also draw near them as a group to see how they react to numbers of people. We want to know how they react to frenzy, or chaotic interruptions in their normally peaceful lives. The last test involves how the swans react to various noises. By using legitimate bird calls, crow calls, and our own human voices, we will chart how they react to different audio response stimuli.
Our hypothesis is that the swans will ignore us when we observe them from a distance, but as we approach them, they will become more aggressive and then vacate to a safe place. We predict that they will be unaffected by the small bird noises, but that they will react more significantly to the louder crow calls and to our own voices.
Whereas other student-generated labs are broader in scope, and cover information that has been researched for long periods of time, it is hard to find experiments that involve studying swan behavior. From our research, we know basic information on the two swans from data accumulated from other Natural Systems groups throughout the last few years. We also discovered websites during our extensive Internet research, which offered valuable information on swans, their lifestyles, and the environment in which they live. One group, from the website http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/nsfall98/finalarticles.html, titled their lab “A study in the Behavior of Swans.” They performed only color testing, observing whether or not the swans would react to different colored balls floating along the surface of the water they glided across. The group developed high suspicions after testing that one of the swans was either blind or had terrible eyesight. This group had great sources to complete their lab and help them broaden their knowledge base, which has prompted us to look for books as well as Internet sites in our research material. Another group titled their project “A Study of Life on Western Pond” and we found them through the Internet site http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/nsfall99/FinalArticles/ASTUDYOFLIFEONWESTERNPOND.htm This group based all of their testing on three variables, which were how the swans would react to people standing, walking and feeding. This is more closely matched to our own objectives, but they decided to include all of the life forms that inhabit the western pond, so they spent much less time with the swans than we will.
Other websites gave us great information on swans, such as www.clemetzoo.com/swans.html. This site gave us general information about the trumpeter swan. The Cleveland Metropark Zoo is involved in reintroducing many swans into the environment. The site has basic information about swans as well as more detailed information about their behavior, history and their habitat. The behavior and habitat information will be the most helpful to our project because it will give us ideas of how they tend to act and how they behave as well as the kinds of animal sounds that we can use as stimuli based on what lives in their natural habitat. Another site connected to the zoo is http://www.clemetzoo.com/animals/animal_info/swan_trumpeter.html, which contains all of its information on one page, and is very concise and straightforward. It will be a good basis for our study, acting as a superior reference guide about the swans.
The site www.taiga.net/swans/swanid.html explains the differences between the Mute, Tundra and Trumpeter swan, and gives specific measurements of each animal, including weight, wingspans and egg length in all three species. Also discussed were the head and neck movements, posture, and proportion of neck and body length.
The site http://vquest.com/swan/fact.html is a website for an organization that wants to make the public more aware about the lives and habits of swans. It imparts knowledge through interesting swan facts and trivia and discusses management activities and solutions for increasing swan population.
The short website found at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu is from the department of zoology at the University of Michigan, and gives fundamental swan information, as well as classifying the trumpeter swan with its scientific name. It also explains geographic ranges, food habits and reproduction that will be of use to our studies and us.
The site http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/factsheets/birds/swan.htm is extremely extensive and quite detailed. It includes a great deal of information about the trumpeter swan as well as the mute and tundra swans. It contains descriptions of the swan’s physical attributes as well as their behavioral patterns. It also describes how swans breed and how the young are cared for, while covering mating and territorial patterns. Another aspect of this site deals with restoration and redistribution projects and goals and we consider this site critical in our understanding of the swans at western pond.
Methods (Ryan Nootz)
Our first step is observing the swans in their natural habitats. Observing their behavior in the water as well as out of it will break our experiments down. Doing so, we will test to see if swans act differently to people in two different locations. Another step taken here is by testing during different hours of the day to see whether or not swans react to human interaction. Although it is unpredictable to determine when the swans might be in the water, figuring out patterns of time spent in the water is strictly a guessing game. One way to observe the behavior of the swans by having and coming into contact with them is enticing them to come near the group studying their behavior. Any method of doing so, whether it be by approaching them or trying to bribe them with food, is up to the group; however, it is necessary to indicate any specific ways used to get the swans to react to one’s encounter with the swans. Another step to this is finding more locations of swans, not just the swans that are on the western pond. If, however, in finding other areas swans may inhibit is undetermined or inconclusive, then each group may be assigned a way or form of getting a response to the swan. The group can determine this by trying to feed the swans in or out of the pond, whether through casual approaches to the swans or any other methods determined at the time of the research.
As noted by a group of students who did similar research in 1999, observing the swans to determine their behavior is necessary for liability in regards to not being attacked by the swans or, for that matter, endangering the swans themselves. To do so, it is necessary to observe them without direct contact, to see how they respond to people in their sight or in their habitat. Some aspects of this research may be difficult, depending on the temperature and the time of year that these observations are done, but we will attempt these observations in several different ways:
1) Direct contact on land
2) Direct contact near or in the water, entering pond while swans swim
3) Recording data of swan’s behavior
4) Repeat procedure at different times of day to determine if the patterns of behavior are similar or different.

Data will be or can be collected in many forms. The forms can show or be set up in the method of showing how or where the contact with the swans took place, the reaction of the swans to contact with humans, and whether or not each group’s individual hypothesis predicted how the swans would react. Each group should study or will be assigned different times to observe the swans and should state what time the group observed the swans, what methods of contact were used in relation to observing the swans’ behavior, and what conclusion can be made after the swan observations. These results will be presented in a concluding section of the group’s paper.
As stated and touched upon in each of the previous two sections, each group as determined by individuals themselves will be assigned specific times of a day to observe the swans in various locations that swans may be found. Each group will study the swans from a safe distance before they come into direct contact or attempt to make contact with the swans. From there, each group will either be assigned or decide on their own how they want to come into contact with the swans. It is necessary for these to be written down to how you came in contact with the swans and what was used to get a reaction from the swans. It may be necessary for individuals from the group to get in or near the water to find out the behavior of the swans in their direct element. If for some reason the subject is not in cooperation with that group, the swans aren’t in the water or won’t come out of the water at the time the group is to study the swans, then additional time or different time will be allotted, to be sure that indicate the possible switch or addition of time.
Data (Ryan Pearl)
There will be a great deal of analyzing we will have to do once we obtain our results from our study of the swans. We will form ways to evaluate the data that we acquire. There are a variety of things we will do to record our data in a meaningful and significant way. We will chart our observations of the swans and their reactions to the different stimuli we test on them. We will have categories of the swans’ behavior in reaction to our stimuli we test on them. We will have categories of the swans’ behavior in reaction to our stimuli, such as aggressiveness, observed comfort, gentleness, apprehensiveness; the level of each type of behavior will be measured by our own relative scale. We will also chart how high on the scale their behavior is in comparison to the amount of each stimulus we test on them. An example is how apprehensive they are the closer we approach them. Based on these charts, we will evaluate how the swans behave in response to a variety of different stimuli, and if it seems to match the behavioral patterns of other observations of swans.

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