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Mute Swan — printable fact sheet
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Mute Swan
Cygnus olor
Cygnus olor is not mute — it hisses, snorts, and grunts freely — but it lacks the loud bugling call of whooper and trumpeter swans because its trachea does not loop into the breastbone as theirs does. The best field mark is the orange-and-black bill with a fleshy knob at the bas…
Did you know?
- Mute Swans can be highly territorial and aggressive, often defending their nesting sites vigorously against intruders, including other swans and even humans.
- In Britain, all unmarked mute swans in open water technically belong to the Crown, a right dating to the twelfth century, and the annual Swan Upping census on the Thames still counts and rings them each July. A mute swan can weigh over 12 kg, making it among the heaviest flying birds, and it needs a long running take-off across water to get airborne. Pairs are usually long-term but "divorce" does happen — studies on British populations find a separation rate of roughly 3 percent per year, rising after a failed breeding season.
What I learned
Draw the mute swan
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