adult male

adult male adult flying European distribution feeding

Identification

The Mute Swan is the common British swan, huge and white with a gracefully curved neck. The black and red beak separates it from the other swans. Cygnets start off grey then turn into brown juveniles which already show the distinctive black around the base of the bill.

Habitat

Breeds and winters on lakes, streams, rivers, estuaries, and marshes.

Behaviour

Males often show characteristically aggressive behaviour, swimming jerkily towards intruders with their wings arched and their neck supported back on the shoulders. Such aggression may lead to grappling between males in which one bird may grab another by the neck. Since it lays such large eggs, this species was chosen for studies of the survival rate of chicks from different-sized eggs. To identify which chick came from which egg, they were actually ringed before they hatched!

Migration

After nesting they tend to form large concentrations on selected waters, for post-breeding moult. Also, they often congregate on favoured waters during the winter. Descendants of 'park-swans' tend to be sedentary but birds around the Baltic are often obliged to migrate south and west unless the winter is so mild that the waters don't freeze over.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Mute Swan is classed as Common: common species, including species that are certain or probable escapees from captivity when occurring in the British Isles. (Note that rarity levels are currently applied nationally and may not reflect local variations in abundance.)

Winterley Pool, Cheshire 07/02/2010	Wigan Flashes, Manc'r 26/12/2009	Abberton Resr, Essex 06/02/2010	Rivenhall, Essex 06/02/2010	Rivenhall, Essex 06/02/2010
Moore NR, Cheshire 01/02/2010	Weir Wood Resr, E Sussex 05/02/2010	Cork City, Cork 31/01/2010	Minsmere RSPB, Suffolk 31/01/2010	Minsmere RSPB, Suffolk 31/01/2010

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Mute Swan breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Albania
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Britain
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lichtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Moldova
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Romania
Russia
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovakia
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine

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