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mute swan
cygnus olor
51.4427, 6.06087
Field Notes
Description:
Adults of this large swan range from 125 to 170 cm (49 to 67 in) long with a 200 to 240 cm (79 to 94 in) wingspan. They may stand over 120 cm (47 in) tall on land. Males are larger than females and have a larger knob on their bill. On average, this is the second largest waterfowl species after the Trumpeter Swan, although male Mute Swans can easily match or even exceed a male Trumpeter in mass.
The Mute Swan is one of the heaviest flying birds, with males (known as cobs) averaging about 12 kg (26 lb) and the slightly smaller females (known as pens) weighing about 9 kg (20 lb). While the top normal weight for a big cob is 15 kg (33 lb), one unusually big Polish cob weighed almost 23 kg (51 lb) and this counts as the largest verified weight for a flying bird, although it has been questioned whether this heavyweight could still take flight. Its size, orange-reddish bill and white plumage make this swan almost unmistakable at close quarters. Compared with the other Northern white swans, the Mute Swan can easily be distinguished by its curved neck and orange, black-knobbed bill. Unlike most other Northern swan species (who usually inhabit only pristine wetlands without regular human interference), the Mute Swan has, in some parts of the world, become habituated and fearless towards humans. Such swans are often seen at close range in urban areas with bodies of water.
Young birds, called cygnets, are not the bright white of mature adults, and their bill is dull greyish-black, not orange, for the first year. The down may range from pure white to grey to buff, with grey/buff the most common. The white cygnets have a leucistic gene. All Mute Swans are white at maturity, though the feathers (particularly on the head and neck) are often stained orange-brown by iron and tannins in the water.
The morph immutabilis ("Polish Swan") has pinkish (not dark grey) legs and dull white cygnets; as with white domestic geese, it is only found in populations with a history of domestication
Habitat:
The Mute Swan is found naturally mainly in temperate areas of Europe across western Asia, as far east as the Russian Maritimes, near Sidemi. Gmelin (1789) and John Latham (1824) reported Mute Swans present in Kamchatka in the 18th century.
It is partially migratory throughout northern latitudes in Europe and Asia, as far south as north Africa and the Mediterranean. It is known and recorded to have nested in Iceland and is a vagrant to that area, as well as to Bermuda, according to the U.N. Environmental Programme chart of international status chart of bird species, which places it in 70 countries, breeding in 49 countries, and vagrant in 16 countries. While most of the current population in Japan is introduced, Mute Swans are depicted on scrolls more than a thousand years old, and wild birds from the mainland Asian population still occur rarely in winter. Natural migrants to Japan usually occur along with Whooper and sometimes Bewick's Swans.
The Mute Swan is protected in most of its range, but this has not prevented illegal hunting and poaching. It is often kept in captivity outside its natural range, as a decoration for parks and ponds, and escapes have happened. The descendants of such birds have become naturalised in the eastern United States and Great Lakes, much as the Canada Goose has done in Europe
Notes:
---There is rich iconic and literary evidence for Celtic bird-goddesses who took the form of swans. Similarly, swans are highly revered in Hinduism (see the culture section of swan).
---The Irish folk tale of the Children of Lir had the three children of King Lir magically transformed into swans for 900 years until, for the spell to be ended, they were blessed by a monk, Christianity having been introduced to Ireland by Saint Patrick during their enchantment.
---The phrase swan song refers to this swan and to the legend that it is utterly silent until the last moment of its life, and then sings one achingly beautiful song just before dying.
---Socrates' spoke the following words before being put to death in 399 BC: "You think I cannot see as far ahead as a swan. You know that when swans feel the approach of death they sing, and they sing sweeter and louder on the last days of their lives because they are going back to that god whom they serve." (Plato)
----A Mute Swan was shown on the 2004 commemorative Irish Euro coin to mark the accession of the 10 new member states which occurred during the Irish Presidency of the European Union.
---The Mute Swan has been the national bird of Denmark since 1984. Prior to that, the Skylark was considered Denmark's national bird (since 1960).
---The fairy tale The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen tells the story of a cygnet ostracised by his fellow barnyard fowl because of his perceived homeliness. To his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a graceful swan, the most beautiful bird of all.
---Today, the Crown (the British monarch) retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but the Queen only exercises her ownership on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries. This ownership is shared with the Vintners' and Dyers' Companies, who were granted rights of ownership by the Crown in the 15th century. See Swan upping.
---The Mute Swans in the moat at the Bishops Palace at Wells Cathedral in Wells, England have for centuries been trained to ring bells via strings attached to them to beg for food. Two swans are still able to ring for lunch.
---The pair of swans in the Boston Public Garden are named Romeo and Juliet after the Shakespearian couple; however, it was found that both are female.
---Camille Saint-Saëns composed a movement called Le Cygne in The Carnival of the Animals. It is played by solo cello and two pianos and represents a swan gliding over the water (cello) and the ripples it creates (pianos).
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