Fast Facts
- Scientific Name: Cygnus olor
- Common Name: Mute Swan, Cygnet (juvenile)
- Lifespan: 15-20 years
- Size: 56-60 inches
- Weight: 16-32 pounds
- Wingspan: 90 inches
- Conservation Status: Least concern
Reading: Mute Swan
Mute Swan Identification
The muffle roll is very distinctive with its long neck and white feather, but several early swans and geese can look very exchangeable. Knowing the field marks to check on this bird can help birders feel convinced with its designation .
Genders are identical with all blank feather, though the long neck, which is often held in an S-curve, may show a buff, tan, or brown moisten from scandal or plant debris. The orange, spatulate-shaped bill has a black edge and topple and a outstanding total darkness basal knob at the base. The bare-skinned lores are blacken, as are the eyes, legs, and webbed feet. Juveniles look similar to adults, but have a brown wash on the feather, specially on the head, neck, and wings. As they mature, their feather may appear more mottle. Juvenile birds have a grey-black bill .
Despite their name, these birds are not very mute. Adult birds are normally silent but will use hisses, barks, and rattling snorts when threatened, and adolescent birds have extra whine calls to attract attention .
Mute Swan Habitat and Distribution
muffle swans are native to Europe and Asia, and they have been heavily domesticated in Europe and introduced as domestic waterfowl for estates, parks, and gardens throughout North America. Released birds have formed feral populations around the Great Lakes vitamin a well as the North Atlantic seashore from Massachusetts south to Virginia. The casual release bird or pair may be found closely anywhere, typically near bombastic open areas of water including lakes, large ponds, sheltered bays, bogs, and marshes. They can be found in both fresh water and brackish habitats .
migration Pattern
Mute swans in Europe may migrate to the Middle East in winter, but north american birds typically do not migrate. alternatively, the birds stay wherever open water is available even if ice by and large develops. If food is abundant or the birds are fed from supplementary feeders, they are evening more likely to remain in northern areas year-round .
behavior
mute swans are graceful on the water system but can appear awkward and gawky in trajectory and on land. These are very aggressive birds when defending their territory and cuddle sites, and they will charge and attack large birds and mammals, including humans, that they perceive to be a threat. When swimming, they may hold their wings over their backs in a puff up position to advertise their potency, and the neck may be held in a strong S-curve as an aggressive position. In flight, dumb swans hold their necks out directly and the legs and feet extend to the end of the chase .
Diet and Feeding
These swans are herbivorous and eat only aquatic plants and grain. They may skim the surface of the water to collect floating morsels, or can tip up to stretch their necks under the water and search out food in mud or sand, or to nybble at submerge alga. They will besides forage on land, grazing as they walk .
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Nesting
dumb swans are monogamous and believed to mate for life, though “ divorces ” do occur arsenic well as infidelity between mates. The pair will work together to create a knoll of plant material in shallow water for the nest, lining it with down for extra insulation and padding. Where available, muffle swans may besides reuse other mounds, such as muskrat houses, for nesting. The nest is often positioned to be concealed by grasses or reeds .
Eggs and Young
Both parents incubate the 2-10 grey or bluish green stained eggs for 36-38 days, and both parents help watch over the precocial young until the birds ’ inaugural escape at 100-150 days. unseasoned birds learn to swim and forage within a day of hatch, but will remain with their parents in the family group for respective months. Mated pairs raise one brood per class, and young swans begin breeding when they are 2-3 years old .
Mute Swan Conservation
mute swans are not considered threatened or endangered, and in fact may be culled or close monitored in some areas to be sure they do not become perilously invasive. They are subject to respective threats common to many waterfowl, however, including toxic contamination of waterways, fishing line tangles, and leash poisoning from slump pellets or fishing gear. Mute swans are occasionally shot angstrom well, frequently because they may be confused with other swan species that can be legally hunted .
Tips for Backyard Birders
These are not typical backyard birds but they can be a coarse site in parks and gardens that include large water features. Mute swans will approach picnickers and visitors in hopes of handouts, but it is not fresh to feed them, since bread is not healthy for swans, ducks, or goose. furthermore, these big birds can become aggressive quickly and are best leave alone .
How to Find This Bird
Because they are so bombastic and apparent, it is not difficult to find mute swans on a kind of waterways, lakes, and ponds within their range. In fact, birders are much surprise to find these birds well outside their expect rate when captive birds escape from secret collections, menagerie, or gardens. Mute swans may be found in fresh water or brackish habitats that support adequate vegetation for feed, and they can occasionally be found feeding in deluge agrarian fields a well .
Mute Swans in culture
These swans are often considered a symbol of romanticism and romanticist sleep together, arsenic well as honor and oneness. This symbolism comes from the fact that these birds form long-run pair bonds, often remaining as a mated pair for years, though separation and disassociate are not unheard of. The mute swan ‘s pure white feather and graceful curves besides give it romanticist invoke, and these birds are frequently featured in wedding decorations such as patty toppers, invitations, and other accents, and they can even be rented for events and photography sessions. Quirky roll boats, which typically have enough distance for a couple to sit while paddling around a lake or pond, are besides inspired by dumb swans and seen as a romantic date activity .
research More Species in This Family
There are many more amaze ducks, goose, and swans to discover in the Anatidae family, including these attractive birds :
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