There is a large and increasing population of deliberately reintroduced Trumpeter Swans in the Great Lakes. Most of these states now consider these birds "wild and countable." These birds have made it to Tennessee several times in the the past, and recent occurrences here have followed the Great Lakes precedent and been deemed wild and countable by the TBRC as well. These other TN records have all been in the winter; eBird indicates that summering birds from the eastern population population occur as far south as the Ohio River and the Chesapeake.
There have also been "Trumpling Swans" (Trumpeter X Tundra "Whistling" hybrids) bred in captivity and released in the mid- Atlantic region. I am still suspicious that one of the swans seen in middle TN last year could have been a "Trumpling." Are there any photos of these Williamson County birds yet? If they appear to be full-blooded Trumpeters, and act like wild birds, it is worth considering that they might be wild birds from the expanding Great Lakes population.
Bill Pulliam Hohenwald TN
On Jul 2, 2012, at 7:52 AM, Terry Witt wrote: Guess should have done a bit more research before the postingThere are Trumpeter Swans available for purchase to anyone with adequate financial resources I found a breeding pair offer at Purelypoultry for $2500, birds are supposed to be pinionedI would strongly suspect escapees for the Williamson County birds Terry Witt Murfreesboro Tn <1341233284565>
