Nature Center adds swan to display

What was unlucky for a trumpeter swan is benefiting Jefferson County Park Nature Center?s species collection.

?A trumpeter swan was found dead in a farmer?s field,? said Therese Cummiskey, naturalist.

Three swans were seen to fly in and only two flew away a couple days later. The dead swan was turned over to Jefferson County Conservation which had taxidermists Clark Hays and Beau Mead from Mount Pleasant preserve the swan.

?These two guys each have their own businesses, but they worked together to preserve this swan,? said Cummiskey. ?They also did a trumpeter swan for Henry County.?

Jefferson County Park Nature Center has about two dozen species of animals on display.

?Sometimes people don?t get a chance for close up view, and these mounted displays can give a better up-close look,? Cummiskey said. ?It was lucky the farmer found this one. It is now hanging from the ceiling, as if in flight, and it looks pretty darn cool. It has an almost six-foot wingspan.?

The white swans with black bills used to be a common sight in Iowa and across the United States. They are the largest waterfowl in North America and can weigh up to 32 pounds with a wingspan of eight feet, according to the Department of Natural Resources website.

By the early 1930s only 69 trumpeter swans could be found in the entire continental United States.

Iowa began a restoration program in 1993. The first wild nest in decades in Iowa was established in 1998. By 2010, 42 wild pairs of trumpeter swans were found nesting in Iowa.

?I?ve seen seven swans already this year,? said Cummiskey. ?We?re lucky to have so many ponds around. The swans migrate, so I?m not sure if we have any nesting around the area, but definitely there are nests in Iowa.?

Trumpeter swans are a protected non-game species in Iowa.