365 Urban Species. #058: Mute Swan

[urbpan]

photos by cottonmanifesto

Urban species #058: Mute swan Cygnus olor

The swan is symbolic of elegance, grace, and wealth. Mute swans have been introduced to many North American locations, in the hope that this bird's presence would bestow these qualities. In Boston, the symbolism is further emphasized by the famous Swan Boats. A pair of mute swans shares the public garden lagoon with the boats in summer. In 2005 the pair was found to be two individuals, that while they may have been pair bonded, were both female.

In Europe, where mute swans are native, they were hunted as game birds. They were domesticated for the table, which helped keep the wild population from being hunted to extinction. It also helped make the sight of swans on the lake of an estate something to be desired and expected. The beauty of the bird has since eclipsed its value as a food animal.

Mute swans are notable for being very large birds and for showing violent territorial behavior. They are on the very short list of flighted birds that can seriously injure a human, and occasionally do. The long neck of a swan allows it to feed on aquatic plants out of the reach of other dabbling birds. This feeding method can disturb the ecology of a lake or pond by uprooting the plants and muddying the water. Massachusetts Audubon Society ornithologist Elissa Landre believes that mute swans have the potential to become an ecological management problem much as Canada geese have.



Mute swans can be distinguished from native North American swans by the large knob at the base of the bill, and the bright orange color of the bill itself.



The mute swan arches its wings over its back in an aggressive display.



As its name implies, it does not trumpet or honk; It does hiss loudly, like a goose.

Comments

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

We take care of them at Franklin in the winter. :)

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

You mean (for the clarity of others reading this) that the Franklin Park Zoo takes care of "Romeo" (or whatever they call her now) and Juliet, the Public Garden swans?

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

Yep. I think it's still Romeo and Juliet. :)

[markurock.livejournal.com]

They have some at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Alder grove B.C. I got a few pics of them... they are a beautiful swan. And it is nice that their bill makes them easy to distinguish.

[droserary.livejournal.com]

A couple of aging alumni of my undergraduate institution decided it would be a good idea to donate four $5,000 black swans (Cygnus atratus) and keep them on campus in the tiny, artificial pond adjascent to the football field and parking lots. Bad idea reason #1) that water isn't very clean due to runoff from the large ocean of asphalt nearby. Bad idea reason #2) these territorial birds will often attack people and cars. It's amusing to watch the drunk members of the campus community try to pet them, though. Two have now been run over by cars and killed. Only when the president's wife was bitten did the birds finally mysteriously "disappear" (read: became thanksgiving dinner).

Thought you'd appreciate my story ;-)

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I see families with little kids trying to feed them, and it scares me to death. I really don't want to be there when some kids arms are broken (or worse) by a swan beating its wings.

Those are (were) Australian swans at your alma mater? It kind of bothers me (if that wasn't clear from my text above) that swans are used as living furniture. They are dangerous animals!

"You know what I think would make the campus look lovely? A pack of African hunting dogs!"

[aemiis-zoo.livejournal.com]

You know what I think would make the campus look lovely? A pack of African hunting dogs! Haha! =)

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

I love them, they're so pretty!

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

My equally territorial collie has got in a couple of arguments with mute swans at the river. Luckily he's a little too intelligent to try and take one on in the water, and the swan was just a little too intimidated to come out and try it on land, so they just barked and hissed and displayed at each other a lot. I wish I'd had a camera. Spike with his hackles up looks like a small dragon.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

The swan in the photos above is trading aggressive displays with Maggie. Both our dogs would love to be let off-leash to tangle with the Leverett Pond swans. It would be an ugly battle, and I'm not sure who would win.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

Spike and Maggie are quite alike in some ways, aren't they? As in, batshit insane in the best way...

I think the swan would be the clear winner in the water, and the dog would have the edge on land - but it would be far too ugly either way. The displaying part was fun to see but you can believe I called Spike off before it got too intense. He may be a stroppy bastard but his saving grace is that he does always listen.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

Charlie would give a swan in the water a run for its money! All it would take is one neck-grab/shake and it'd be all over.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

Good point. Even a very big strong bird is a lot easier to damage than a dog is.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

Charlie a wee bit afraid of the geese, he's been flapped at before! Last spring, Maggie got attacked by one of them...

[aemiis-zoo.livejournal.com]

They had a home video on the news here about a year ago of an Egyptian swan goose chasing off a bob cat!