Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Yellowstone Park’s Iconic Trumpeter Swans Face Population Collapse

Trumpeter Swans

The dominoes are falling in Yellowstone National Park and birds are paying the price. It’s a bizarre story that starts when non-native lake trout suddenly appeared in Yellowstone Lake and reduced numbers of native cutthroat trout by 90 percent. The native cutthroats provided food for Ospreys and Bald Eagles, but lake trout are deep-water species that the big raptors can’t reach. As a result, most Ospreys have left the park, but Bald Eagles have shifted their diet to other species of birds, with decimating effects on Trumpeter Swans, California Gulls, Caspian Terns and even Common Loons.
 

Learn more at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/07/yellowstone-lake-trout-trumpeter-swan-avian-collapse-animals/