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Field Guide : Mute Swan
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
The mute swan is a celebrated beauty of folk and fairy tales, ballets, and pretty much every animated movie that features a swan. “The Ugly Duckling” that grows into an elegant adult bird and teaches a lesson about perceived difference and bullying in Hans Christian Andersen’s famous Danish story? Yup, that’s a mute swan. Throughout Europe and the parts of Asia where the species is native, it has long been held in high esteem. They are large and impressive birds, weighing up to 30 pounds with a wingspan of up to 8 feet. Their long and lithe necks and substantial bodies are clothed in a regal snow white that’s set off by their prominent black and orange bills.
Although mute swans eat aquatic insects, small fish, and amphibians, the bulk of their diet is vegetation. The long-necked birds excel at underwater grazing on submerged aquatic plants, but they’re also fond of agricultural fields, and feeding flocks sometimes cause significant crop damage, due as much to their heavy footfall as to the feeding itself.
Like most sexually monomorphic birds (species in which both sexes look the same), mute swans are monogamous. They build large mound nests in shallow water and often reuse the same nests each year (because mute swans are non-migratory, they can keep an eye on their nesting sites year round). Male and female swans share in the construction and maintenance of the nest, just as they share parental duties once the young (cygnets) hatch. Although cygnets can feed themselves, the adult swans will help loosen vegetation for them with their beaks or by paddling aggressively with their feet. In some cases, the adult swans will pick the food themselves and place it in easy-to-access spots for their cygnets.
In England, the mute swan has been considered the property of the Crown since the 12th century and, today, the bird is protected across most of its native range in Europe and Asia. Those protections are being reconsidered, however, as the species’ population grows and researchers make the public more aware of some resulting negative ecological impacts. If the research at home is concerning, the situation on our side of the pond is outright alarming. The mute swan was introduced to this continent in the mid-to-late-19th century, and today mute swans have established populations on the Atlantic coast from Canada to the Chesapeake Bay, as well as in the Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest.
Most recently, mute swans have taken up residence in Northern California, where their population has exploded, especially in the last five years. The California mute swan population was estimated to be 1,500 in 2022; three years later, it stands at 12,000. Research shows mute swans have a detrimental effect on North America’s native swans and other waterfowl. Because of their large size, aggressive territoriality (they pursue and drown geese, smaller swans, and ducks that enter their breeding territory – in one extreme case, they even killed a human), comfort living in developed areas, and the steep toll their heavy grazing takes on the health and diversity of aquatic vegetation communities, mute swans are now classified as an invasive species in the United States. Some eastern states have allowed hunting of the invasive swans and many attempt to reduce the mute swan population through egg addling (usually by oiling the exterior of an egg on the nest, which prevents it from hatching). California’s governor just signed a bill that will allow hunting of mute swans in the state, effective immediately. Time will tell if that makes a difference and provides our native, migratory tundra and trumpeter swans with more of a chance to flourish.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
The mute swan is a celebrated beauty of folk and fairy tales, ballets, and pretty much every animated movie that features a swan. “The Ugly Duckling” that grows into an elegant adult bird and teaches a lesson about perceived difference and bullying in Hans Christian Andersen’s famous Danish story? Yup, that’s a mute swan. Throughout Europe and the parts of Asia where the species is native, it has long been held in high esteem. They are large and impressive birds, weighing up to 30 pounds with a wingspan of up to 8 feet. Their long and lithe necks and substantial bodies are clothed in a regal snow white that’s set off by their prominent black and orange bills.
Although mute swans eat aquatic insects, small fish, and amphibians, the bulk of their diet is vegetation. The long-necked birds excel at underwater grazing on submerged aquatic plants, but they’re also fond of agricultural fields, and feeding flocks sometimes cause significant crop damage, due as much to their heavy footfall as to the feeding itself.
Like most sexually monomorphic birds (species in which both sexes look the same), mute swans are monogamous. They build large mound nests in shallow water and often reuse the same nests each year (because mute swans are non-migratory, they can keep an eye on their nesting sites year round). Male and female swans share in the construction and maintenance of the nest, just as they share parental duties once the young (cygnets) hatch. Although cygnets can feed themselves, the adult swans will help loosen vegetation for them with their beaks or by paddling aggressively with their feet. In some cases, the adult swans will pick the food themselves and place it in easy-to-access spots for their cygnets.
In England, the mute swan has been considered the property of the Crown since the 12th century and, today, the bird is protected across most of its native range in Europe and Asia. Those protections are being reconsidered, however, as the species’ population grows and researchers make the public more aware of some resulting negative ecological impacts. If the research at home is concerning, the situation on our side of the pond is outright alarming. The mute swan was introduced to this continent in the mid-to-late-19th century, and today mute swans have established populations on the Atlantic coast from Canada to the Chesapeake Bay, as well as in the Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest.
Most recently, mute swans have taken up residence in Northern California, where their population has exploded, especially in the last five years. The California mute swan population was estimated to be 1,500 in 2022; three years later, it stands at 12,000. Research shows mute swans have a detrimental effect on North America’s native swans and other waterfowl. Because of their large size, aggressive territoriality (they pursue and drown geese, smaller swans, and ducks that enter their breeding territory – in one extreme case, they even killed a human), comfort living in developed areas, and the steep toll their heavy grazing takes on the health and diversity of aquatic vegetation communities, mute swans are now classified as an invasive species in the United States. Some eastern states have allowed hunting of the invasive swans and many attempt to reduce the mute swan population through egg addling (usually by oiling the exterior of an egg on the nest, which prevents it from hatching). California’s governor just signed a bill that will allow hunting of mute swans in the state, effective immediately. Time will tell if that makes a difference and provides our native, migratory tundra and trumpeter swans with more of a chance to flourish.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.