YoYo the trumpeter swan is missing

If you spot YoYo, please call 888-2-MIGRATE

By Environmental News Network staff

YoYo, one of the trumpeter swans who successfully completed a 103-mile "migration" to the Eastern Shore of Maryland last December, has disappeared from her Crapo wintering grounds.

YoYo and her swan mates Sidney and Isabelle were led by an ultralight plane from Warrenton, Virginia, to the Maryland wintering ground as part of experimental reintroduction of the migratory birds. They were the first trumpeters to return to Maryland in more than 200 years.

"She is truly a magnificent bird," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. "YoYo is very independent yet quite personable. If anyone has seen her, we need to know about it."

YoYo became separated from her mates during the week of March 9 and has not been seen since. Trumpeter swans, the largest waterfowl in North America, would be relatively easy to spot with their distinctive solid-black bill.

YoYo weighs about 25 pounds and has an eight-foot wingspan. Covered mostly in white, she still has gray juvenile plumage along her sides and on her neck. She is fitted with a yellow tubular plastic neck band with a code vertically engraved. In addition, YoYo wears the required U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service metal band.

"She is wearing a radio collar that is accurate up to 500 yards, so we know she's gone farther than that," said Dr. William Sladen, director of Environmental Studies at Airlie, Virginia, and a co-founder of the Migratory Bird Project. "She's been imprinted on humans, and therefore is quite friendly. There is a good chance that she has gone right up to someone and made friends."

The Migratory Bird Project, a partnership between Defenders of Wildlife and Environmental Studies at Airlie, began the migration experiment early in 1997 by raising and training seven swans hatched at Airlie.

YoYo and her mates are the first in a series of experiments designed to restore a viable population of trumpeter swans to the East Coast.

"If anyone in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware or anywhere else has seen YoYo or thinks they may have seen her, we ask that they please call 888-2-MIGRATE and let us know," said Schlickeisen. "Returning YoYo to her flockmates is crucial to this scientific experiment and to furthering conservation measures such as this one."

Copyright 1998, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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Related ENN stories:

• Swans take flight on historic journey
• Trumpeter swans complete journey

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