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In the spring of 1988, hopes of a decades long effort to reintroduce trumpeter swans to Washington鈥檚 Columbia Plateau rested on a single breeding pair at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge.
The pair attracted a lot of attention. With their bright white plumage and black bills, trumpeter swans were a rare sight. They were also huge - trumpeters are the largest living waterfowl in the world - weighing in at over 25 pounds and boasting a wingspan stretching 8-10 feet. This big charismatic pair had chosen a very public nesting site on an island in Winslow Pool, just 30 feet from the entrance road. The pen (female swan) could easily be seen incubating her clutch of eggs while the cob (male swan) stood watch.
The sight was short lived. Before any cygnets could hatch, the female was killed by coyotes and all their eggs were destroyed.
The male escaped, leaving a small window of hope that he would find another mate and help restore the swan population. But those hopes slowly dwindled as he spent the next 21 years mostly alone.
Observers affectionally nicknamed him 鈥淪olo.鈥�
Solo鈥檚 story began decades earlier.
Starting in the 1960鈥檚 Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge became the site of an ambitious effort to restore trumpeter swans to eastern Washington, (they had been hunted to the brink of extinction by the 1930鈥檚). Over a four-year period, 37 cygnets were introduced to the refuge, and by 1967, the first successful nests signaled hope for a growing population.
But despite yearly nesting successes, the flock struggled due to high mortality rates. Swans hit power lines, were shot, predated, or simply disappeared. By 1972, despite over 50 cygnets hatching from the original introduced birds, only 32 total swans were counted at the start of year.
In 1976 the supplemental feeding and pond aeration program that kept Winslow Pond from freezing and sustained a resident winter flock was discontinued to encourage the birds to migrate to better winter-feeding grounds. The swans dispersed as planned but each year fewer and fewer returned.
What happened to most of those swans remains a mystery. Some were found dead, but most simply vanished. Aerial surveys and Audubon Society observers scoured wetlands across the northwest including Canada, yet the birds were never accounted for.
By 1980 Solo and his mate were one of the just two nesting pairs that were reported on the refuge. The future of the reintroduction project looked bleak. In the Refuge鈥檚 1980 annual narrative report Refuge Manger Donald White stated, 鈥渇uture introductions (of trumpeter swans) would be futile unless high adult mortality can be controlled, or trumpeter swan distribution becomes more widespread.鈥�
Across the region trumpeter swans faced similar struggles.
By the time Solo鈥檚 mate was predated in 1988, trumpeter swan reintroduction projects across the Northern Pacific Flyway (an area stretching from the Northwest United States to Alaska), were reporting similar struggles.
Management plans from Pacific Flyway Council echoed Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge鈥檚 setbacks. Across the Pacific Flyway, biologists were also seeing hunter-caused mortality and powerline collisions. Additionally poisoning as a result of lead shot being ingested by waterfowl, including swans, was on the rise, with an increase in mortality documented in Washington State in particular.
Solo, but not alone.
Amid all the losses, Solo remained and became a beloved fixture at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. Though his identifying band had long since broken off, Solo was unmistakable. He remained a year-around resident if there was open water, and in years the ponds froze, he appeared within days of the spring thaw. Even more distinctive was his daily morning routine of flying up and down Pine Creek trumpeting. Staff and visitors alike expressed deep affection for the lone bird.
In 2009, refuge biologist Mike Rule estimated Solo to be at least 34 years old based on records that he was part of one of the 1980鈥檚 breeding pairs. This was extraordinary as wild trumpeter swans were known to live just 20 to 30 years.
Despite his age, and to the surprise of Solo鈥檚 devoted fans, that spring he and a new mate built a nest and hatched four cygnets - the first to hatch on Refuge since Solo fathered cygnets 21 years earlier.
The event made headlines across the region, with newspapers like The Seattle Times and The Oregonian picking up the story. Solo became a local celebrity. Community members, refuge staff, and birders tracked the progress of his family with growing affection. The following year, Solo and his mate returned with three of their fledged cygnets and raised five more that summer.
It was a second unexpected chapter in a story that had once seemed finished, and a spark of hope for the restoration of trumpeter swans in eastern Washington.
A new Beginning and a Tragic End
In January of 2011 a flock of 10 swans believed to be Solo, his mate, and their cygnets was spotted at Badger Lake just south of the refuge. One of the swans appeared sick. It was captured and taken to the wildlife veterinarian at Washington State University where the swan died from complications associated with chronic lead poisoning. The swan was determined to be male and while there were no identifying markers, Solo鈥檚 disappearance that year all but confirmed that he was the poisoned bird.
While Solo鈥檚 devoted supporters mourned his loss, they continued to visit the refuge and watch over his cygnets and his widow, who eventually found a new mate.
Solo鈥檚 Legacy
Today, Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge sees two or three pairs of trumpeter swans successfully nesting most years. While the swan population still falls short of the ambitious goals set during the 1960s restoration efforts, there is much to be celebrated.
Observed trumpeter swan mortality at Turnbull has declined in recent decades, thanks in part to a combination of policy changes, education, and habitat stewardship. In 1991, the federal government banned the use of lead shot for hunting waterfowl due to its devastating impact on wildlife, including swans. Long-term public outreach and environmental education have helped shift hunting practices and attitudes. Meanwhile, the refuge has continued to actively manage wetlands and remove hazardous powerlines wherever possible.
Though Turnbull now supports a small but seemingly stable swan population these gains can鈥檛 be taken for granted. According to the , despite seeing increases in waterfowl and waterbirds over the last 50 years, there is now a downward trend in populations largely due to habitat loss and degradation.
Addressing these declines, especially among migratory species, is a complex issue. At Turnbull, refuge biologist Molly Dixon confronts these challenges daily as she monitors the health of the wetlands and wildlife species.
鈥淐onservation requires cross-collaboration with agencies, groups, and individuals, all of whom may have differing priorities, goals, and resources,鈥� said Dixon in a 2025 interview. 鈥淐ollaboration is critical - not just to improve habitat connectivity and quality, but for sharing trends and best practices. You can't do conservation in a vacuum - it just wouldn't work."
In the end, Solo鈥檚 ability to inspire and bring people together may be his greatest legacy. The connections he sparked between individuals, communities, and the land itself may be exactly what trumpeter swans, and all our wetland species, will depend on to survive.
References:
Dixon, Molly. Interview by Laurel Smith. April 9, 2025. Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Landers, Rich. 2011. 鈥淪wan鈥檚 Long Run at Turnbull Refuge Ends on High Note.鈥� The Spokesman-Review, April 3, 2011.
McKelvey, Richard W., ed. 1981. Abstracts of Papers Presented at the 7th Trumpeter Swan Society Conference, Victoria, British Columbia, 19鈥�21 February 1981. Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta, BC.鈥� Page 8: Rees, J.R. "Historical and Demographic Analysis of a Trumpeter Swan Introduction on Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge."
North American Bird Conservation Initiative. 2025. The State of the Birds: United States of America, 2025. StateoftheBirds.org.
Pacific Flyway Study Committee et al. 1983. Trumpeter Swans North American Management Plan. Prepared by the Subcommittees on Trumpeter Swans of the Pacific, Central, Mississippi, and Atlantic Flyway Technical Committees, with The Trumpeter Swan Society.
Rule, Mike. ca. 2013. Trumpeter Swans at Turnbull NWR. Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge Annual Narrative Report, Calendar Years 1964鈥�1989. National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Department of the Interior.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ca. 1980. Management Plan for the Mid-Continent Population of Trumpeter Swans. SS-13. U.S. Department of the Interior.
