Swan Info

Eggs & Cygnets

Swan eggs are among the largest produced by flying birds, measuring up to 5 inches long and weighing around 350g, with thick shells strong enough to support an adult swan.
During the breeding season, female swans can produce an egg once every other day, or so.
The average number of eggs produced by a pair of Mute Swans is about six, but a range of four to eight is quite common. Swan eggs are incubated for roughly 33 to 42 days (typically 5 weeks), with both parents often sharing duties, though the female (pen) does the majority of the sitting.
Eggs are laid over several days but hatch within a day of each other. Incubation usually begins after the full clutch is laid.

Young swans are called cygnets. They are typically born with grey or white down feathers, which turn brown/grey during their first few months before transitioning to white by their first year. They are highly precocial, swimming and foraging for aquatic vegetation, insects, and small fish shortly after hatching. Often, they ride on their parents' backs for warmth and protection.

Cygnets depend on their parents for 4-12 months. They typically take 3 to 4 years to reach full sexual maturity and begin breeding, although some may start as early as 2 or as late as 6 years. While they fledge within 3-4 months, they remain in immature flocks until they are ready to find a mate and establish a breeding territory.

Swan Sounds

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) Flying, flapping, calling, grunting

Despite their name, Mute swans make a variety of sounds, although they are generally quiet birds. Swans produce resonant, sonorous, loud, low-pitched, bugle like calls. Or high pitched often quavering oo-oo-oo, accentuated in the middle; or who, who-ho: woo-oo-woo; or who-who.
Hissing sounds are common and occasional snorting noises.

Mute Swan Sound Collection

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Behaviors
Swans spread their wings primarily to display aggression, defend territory, or intimidate threats, a behavior often called "busking".
By arching their wings like sails, they appear larger, which warns off rivals or predators. Swans also hiss when they feel threatened.
If the interloper continues to hang around, the behaviour may escalate to lunging/attacking.
They also spread and flap wings to dry feathers, or stretch after swimming.

Mute Swans + Hissing

Quirks: Homosexuality is common in swans, particularly Black Swans, with studies showing up to 20-25% of pairs being same-sex, often forming stable, lifelong bonds and successfully raising offspring by adopting abandoned eggs or taking eggs from females after mating. These male-male pairs can be more successful parents, achieving up to 80% chick-raising success due to better territory defense and shared workloads, compared to around 30% for heterosexual pairs.

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Swan Diet & Feeding
Swans are primarily herbivores. Those living on fresh water will typically eat pondweed, stonewort and wigeon grass, as well as fish, tadpoles, and insects such as milfoil.

Swans living on salt water will typically eat sea arrow grass, salt marsh grass, eel grass, club rush and green algae, as well as insects and molluscs.

Swans play a vital role in maintaining the health of aquatic ecosystems. By eating plants and small aquatic animals, they spread seeds and aquatic animal eggs through their feces, supporting the growth of plants and the survival of animal species. While swimming, they also stir up sediment, which helps circulate nutrients around these bodies of water, supporting the health of the plants and fish that live below.

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Migration

Swans, including Tundra and Trumpeter species, are migratory birds that travel in small, often V-shaped family groups from Arctic or northern breeding grounds to warmer southern water bodies, covering thousands of miles. They migrate by day and night from mid-September to November, returning north between February and April.

Energy Efficiency: The V-shape, or echelon formation, helps birds manage long-distance flights by allowing them to utilize the "upwash" of the bird in front.
While V-shapes are common, swans may also fly in straight lines.

The lead bird, which faces the highest wind resistance, will often swap with others to share the workload.

North America's Tundra Swans nest in the arctic, and migrate for the winter either east to the Atlantic Flyway to the Chesapeake area, or west to California. Their migrations can overlap areas where Trumpeter Swans have been nesting or winter (especially in the Pacific Northwest).

Mute swans are generally non-migratory, year-round residents that stay in the same area unless forced to move by freezing water, which restricts their food source. While they do not engage in traditional long-distance migration, they may shift to coastal waters, larger lakes, or open rivers during winter.

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Predators

Adult swans have few natural predators due to their size and aggression, but eggs and young cygnets are frequently preyed upon by foxes, mink, raccoons, coyotes, wolves, bears, eagles, and large fish like pike. Humans are the primary predator of adult swans through hunting, poaching, and habitat destruction, while domestic dogs/cats may also attack them.

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Hunting

Mute swans are considered a highly invasive species in North America, damaging wetlands and aggressively displacing native waterfowl. They are not protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It's legal to hunt and eat swans in some states. Swan advocates argue there is no scientific data proving mute swans are more detrimental to the environment than other waterfowl.

Hunting legality is based on Junk Science
Mute Swan Hunting Objections
Save Our Swans NY

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References and Related Info:

• Swanlife.com Mute Swans • Trumpeter swan society

• Mute Swan Sound Collection

• Swan Sanctuary UK • Swan Upping UK

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Interested in swan mythology, folklore, and more?
Visit Swan Lore Page

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