In this painting, I have shown the male standing guard and the female sheltering the downy, newly hatched cygnets. Since the purpose of this painting is for conservation and environmental work, I wanted to show the “on guard” stance and the hope embodied in the coming generation. The tundra swan is a recent name given to the whistling swan; the new name is far more appropriate. First of all, these birds do not whistle. Their cry is a kind of sonorous, clarion-like yodel; secondly, they do live almost entirely on the tundra regions of North America during the breeding season. - Robert Bateman