Interesting facts about swans

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We found 26 interesting facts about swans

A symbol of beauty, purity and tenderness.

The mute swan is a beautiful and majestic bird that can often be found in bodies of water, both wild and in city parks. These are the heaviest birds in Poland, capable of active flight. Although they are considered calm and gentle birds, they can be very aggressive in defending their nesting territory. They cope well with our climate and have no problems finding food. Unfortunately, people sometimes feed them white bread, which after long-term consumption can lead to an incurable disease called angel wing.

The mute swan is a bird from the duck family.

Its Latin name swan color.

It is found in northern Europe, except Scandinavia, Turkey in the Mediterranean region, central Eurasia, the great lakes region of North America and its east coast, South Australia and New Zealand.

It is estimated that there are about 7 breeding pairs of swans in Poland.

They can be found both in Pomerania and in inland waters. They prefer places with standing water.

There are about 500 mute swans in the world, most of them in the former USSR.

Swans were introduced to North America at the end of the XNUMXth century. It was recently declared an invasive species there because it reproduces very quickly and has adverse effects on other swimming bird populations.

They live in bodies of water, preferably abundantly covered with reeds, and on the sea coast.

Mute swans reach a body length of 150 to 170 centimeters and a body weight of up to 14 kilograms.

Females are lighter than males and rarely weigh more than 11 kilograms.

The wingspan reaches up to 240 centimeters, although it is usually slightly lower.

The males of these birds are larger than the females.

Until about 3 years of age, young swans are gray; in the second year of life, their head, neck and flight feathers remain gray.

Swans become flightless once a year when they shed all their flight feathers at once. The period during which they grow new feathers lasts from 6 to 8 weeks.

Baby swans can dive, but adults lose this ability.

Their toes are webbed, which makes them good swimmers.

They feed mainly on plant foods, supplemented by snails, mussels and insect larvae.

Swans mate in the fall and most often remain faithful to each other.

They can change partners if the previous one dies. Swans select a breeding territory in early spring.

At the turn of April and May, swans breed. During this time, the female lays from 5 to 9 eggs, sometimes more.

Swans most often build their nests on water, less often on land. It consists of branches covered with reeds and reed leaves and lined mainly with feathers and down.

When building a nest, the male swan supplies the female with building material, which she takes over and arranges independently.

The mute swan can be very aggressive in defending its nest and is also very protective of its mate and offspring.

The eggs are mainly incubated by the female. The incubation period lasts approximately 35 days.

In the first days after hatching, the mother feeds the little swans with rotting plants.

Young swans begin to fly approximately 4 – 5 months after hatching and become adults only after 3 years.

The image of a mute swan appeared on the commemorative Irish euro coin in 2004 in honor of the 10 new EU member states.

Swans have been bred for food in Britain for hundreds of years.

A bird's farm origin was often indicated by barbs on its legs or beak. All unmarked birds were considered royal property. Perhaps the domestication of swans saved the local population, since excessive hunting had practically exterminated the birds in the wild.

Since 1984, the swan has been the national bird of Denmark.

A pair of swans at the Boston Botanical Garden were named Romeo and Juliet, but both birds were later found to be female.

The mute swan is a strictly protected species in Poland.

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