YUBA COUNTY, Calif. —

Each winter, the flooded rice fields of Yuba County host tens of thousands of tundra swans.

Tundra swans are one of the largest native birds in North America, weighing more than 20 pounds with a 5-foot wingspan.

Local rice farmers, as well as bird watchers, welcome these migratory birds.

"It’s also a benefit to the farmers because the birds leave behind, obviously, fertilizer from everything," said Molly Shea with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. "They eat so they’re eating up spent rice grains, breaking them down so they’re soft and they’re leaving behind fertilizer for next year’s crop."

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with the Mathews Rice Operation, hosts guided education tours to see the swans and other migratory bir

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