Join us in the auditorium of the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center from 1:30-3pm to learn about the fascinating history of the Trumpeter Swan in Wisconsin with DNR biologist, Sumner Matteson. Starting in the early 1980s with an idea from WDNR waterfowl research scientist, the late Richard Hunt, to reintroduce Trumpeter Swans to Wisconsin, state and private partners embarked on a daunting mission to bring back the Trumpeter. This talk will detail the objectives, trials and tribulations involved that ultimately culminated in success.
Sumner has worked 42 years for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a nongame biologist, conservation biologist, and avian ecologist specializing in the conservation and management of state-endangered colonial waterbirds, focusing in recent years on endangered Black Terns, Caspian Terns, Common Terns, and Forster’s Terns. He led the successful Wisconsin recovery effort on Trumpeter Swans, and as with each of these species works with diverse partners and teams.
For the past 5 years, he has been working with the Fish and Wildlife Service to document the colonial nesting of Black-necked Stilts at the Horicon Marsh NWR in southeastern Wisconsin. He is a recent former Chair of the Mississippi Flyway Council Nongame Bird Technical Section, a former President of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, and the 2020 recipient of the WSO’s Golden Passenger Pigeon Award for outstanding contributions to ornithology.
