Family - Anatidae

Subfamily - Cygininae

SWANS

NORTH AMERICAN SWAN CHARACTERISTICS

Long neck

Broad, flat bill

Sieve-like lamellae

Gray to black legs

Male larger than female

Front 3 toes webbed

Adult body white

• Found in temperate climate

• Up-end or dabble to feed on submerged and bottom vegetation in shallow lakes, ponds, estuaries

• Also eats aquatic animals

HABITAT & FOOD

Swans Breeding in North America

Mute

Tundra

Whooper

Trumpeter

• Large, heavy, thick-necked, knob-billed

• Adults white-bodied with bright orange bill and black face mask

• Neck often held in S-shaped curve especially when threatened

• Rides high in the water and cocks long pointed tail

MUTE SWAN (CYGNUS OLOR)ORIGINALLY FROM EUROPE

• Most likely swan to be found in urban or suburban ponds, parks as well as inlets, bays, and lagoons.

• Flight direct and in flocks flies in V formation

• Sound of wings beating can be heard some distance

• Varied calls including bugle sound, grunt, hisses, wheezes, and snorts

MUTE SWAN (CYGNUS OLOR)

• Smaller swan (52”)

• Bill black with yellow teardrop at base and distinct eye

• Slender short neck held straight up

• Bill concave in adults and slightly pink/swollen in immatures

• Breeds on tundra lakes and ponds near seacoasts; otherwise found in shallow ponds, rivers, bays, estuaries

• Migrates, nests, and forages in large flocks

• Direct fast flight with steady wing beats

• Voice varied from clear “kwoo” or “woo-ho” to wailing, hooting, barking, or baying sounds.

TUNDRA SWAN CYGNUS COLUMIANUS

• Large white swan with black legs and feet

• Bill black, wedge-shaped, and base seems to cover the eye

• Slouch-necked unless straightened in an alert position

TRUMPETER SWAN CYGNUS BUCCINATOR

• Breeds on northern forest lakes and ponds

• Forages on emergent vegetation and in aquatic habitats as well as grasslands

• Low pitched voice and nasal honking

• Immature higher pitched with toy trumpet sound

TRUMPETER SWAN CYGNUS BUCCINATOR

• L -60”; long neck, body, and bill with short roundish tail

• Adult’s bill is black from tip to middle and yellow from middle onto and under base; juvenile similar pattern but whitish base pinkish tip

WHOOPER SWANCYGNUS CYGNUS

WHOOPER SWAN CYGNUS, CYGNUS

• Has bred in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.

• Habitat includes tundra lakes and marshes, open water, and agricultural fields

OTHER SWANS

• Black Swan – Cygnus atratus (Australian)

• Black-necked Swan – Cygnus melanocorypha (South America)

• Coscoroba Swan – Coscoroba coscoroba (South America)

• Australian wetlands habitats (fresh, brackish, and saltwater)

• Adult has sooty black body with hidden white flight feathers; juvenile is grayer

• Bill is red with a pale bar and tip

• Herbivorous feeder

BLACK SWAN

• Breeds in large colonies

• Monogamous breeder with shared incubation and rearing by the sexes

• In flight long neck and slow wing beat separates it from Magpie Goose

BLACK SWAN

• South American swan

• Adults: Black-necked, white bodied, gray bill with red knob. White stripe behind eye.

BLACK-NECKED SWANCYGNUS MELANOCORYPHA

• Habitat: freshwater marshes, lake shores, and lagoons

• Cygnets are light grey with black bill and feet.

• Parents may carry them on their backs until cygnets can swim on own.

BLACK-NECKED SWAN CYGNUS MELANCORYPHUS

• A South American swan

• White plumage with black tips

• Red beak, legs and feet

• Cygnet is brown and gray patches

• No black mask

• Small in size closer to goose

COSCOROBA SWAN COSCOROBA COSCOROBA

• Feeds on grass and aquatic plants

• Also eats mussels and fish

• Male guards female as she incubates eggs and the young until they fledge

COSCOROBA SWAN

REFERENCES

• A World Checklist of Birds by Burt L. Monroe, Jr. and Charles G. Sibley

• Pete Dunn’s Essential Field Guide Companion

• The Birdwatcher’s Companion to North American Birdlife by Christopher Leahy

• The Sibley Guide to Birdlife & Behavior edited by Chris Elphick, John B. Dunning, Jr., and David Allen Sibley

• The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America by Donald & Lillian Stokes

• Wikipedia online for South American and Australian Swans