Information for Swan Bird
Swans, classified in the genus Cygnus, are most closely related to geese and ducks. Three species of swan live in North America: the tundra swan, the trumpeter swan and the mute swan. A swan typically weighs 25 to 35 lbs. and stands at 4 feet tall with a wing span of about 10 feet. They inhabit ponds, lakes and wetlands.
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Mute Swan
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The mute swam, Cynus olor, hails from Eurasia. Considered an invasive species in North America, the mute swan was brought from Europe in the mid-1800s as an ornamental bird to decorate parks and estates. Mute swans have established stable populations in the Saskatchewan and Hudson Bay areas of Canada and over the Great Lakes into the United States. The mute swan migrates down the Pacific coast in California.
Tundra Swan
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According to National Geographic, the tundra swan, Cygnus columbianus, breeds in the Arctic, migrating nearly 4,000 miles to North America's Atlantic and Pacific coastlines, lakes and bays. In the east they inhabit the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina, while they frequent California in the west.
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Trumpeter Swan
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According to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Cygnus buccinator, the trumpeter swan, breeds in western Canada and Alaska, flying south in winter to the Columbia River. A year-round flock resides in the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. The trumpeter is the largest of the North American swans.
Diet
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All swan species share a similar diet, consisting mostly of aquatic vegetation and grains as well as insects and invertebrates. Swans forage for leaves, stems, seeds and tubers of submerged aquatic vegetation, grasses and algae. They also take fish and insects plus insect and amphibian larvae. They devour the seeds and shoots of grains such as wheat and corn. Some species consume more meat as babies, becoming mostly vegetarian at maturity.
Breeding
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Trumpeter and tundra swans mate for life, while mute swans may have more than one mate per season. The male swan, called a cob, is one of the few birds with an external penis. Swans become sexually mature after two years, but don't usually mate until three to five years. They lay a clutch of about six eggs which hatch after 35 days. Though baby swans, called cygnets, are born able to feed themselves and swim, they stay close to the parents, learning to fly at about 15 weeks old.
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References
- Photo Credit swan image by Slam from Fotolia.com
