Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Tundra Swan & Mute Swan

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

If you have the time, I hope you can stop by and visit my monthly post on Birding is fun .





This week I am featuring the Swans.. Mainly the Tundra Swan compared to the Mute Swan.


The TUNDRA SWAN


 The Tundra Swan is the American version of the Eurasian Bewick's Swan. They have a black bill and face and their bodies are all white.


 The Tundra Swan wingspan is 66.1 inches.. Another fact, they stay in flocks until they reach their breeding territory..





 The MUTE SWAN


  The Mute Swan is a pretty Swan with the orange bill and a black face.



 The Mute Swan is a non-native bird to America.. It was introduced to parks and ponds of estates. Escaped individuals have formed breeding populations. Their aggressive behavior threatens native waterfowl and are considered a threat to the native Trumpeter Swan..In some states their numbers are way above an acceptable range and measures are taken to decrease their population.

I hope you enjoyed my post on the swans..  Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

53 comments:

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Never realized the populatin of the Mute Swan. I'll have to take a closer look at the pair on the lake where I kayak...:)JP

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

purdy boids

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Such beautiful birds...I love their elegant neck shape - looks like half a heart!

Elizabeth Edwards said...

neat swan. i love your bit below. we have an issue with canadian geese. they are every where. not my favorite kind of bird. they seem to run in front of your vehicle at that the worse time of your trip. & then walk very very slow. did i mention - slow?! ha. ha!!! ( :

Lynne said...

Graceful and stately . . . I can't imagine them to be fiesty!

The Furry Gnome said...

I wonder how long it will be til we see them here?

Minoru Saito said...

Hi,Eileen. Very interesting post! Your photos are very beautiful.There are both kind of swans in our country. It is said the mute swans will not be welcomed in future. Thanks for sharing.

Montanagirl said...

Nice photos, Eileen! You put forth some interesting facts about the Mute Swan that I did not know. Good post!

Hootin Anni said...

Glorious, beauties!!!!

TexWisGirl said...

huge, heavy looking birds! amazing they can fly!

Suzan said...

Ahhhh! The difference in the two swans! Thank you!! The Mute Swans are aggressive to people too!
They are beautiful! While living in Germany in the 80s, one tried to attach my 3 yr. old when we were feeding them by the river. No babies around - all adults???
Lovely though!

Karen said...

We see mostly Tundra swans here on their way north. Although they don't have as gracefully curved necks as the Mutes, I still think they are beautiful.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Thanks for the great pix and the explanations about the two types of swans. We don't seem to see any of the Mute Swans in our area. Love the picture of the swan family.

Jo said...

It's sad when an "alien" animal or plant threatens the local species. Is the Mute Swan actually "Mute" and do the Trumpeter Swans: "Trumpet"? Have a great day. Jo

Gail Dixon said...

I did not know that mute swans were aggressive towards wildlife. Bummer. The tundra swans are such a striking, beautiful specimen. Wonderful images, Eileen!

HappyK said...

Oh they are gorgeous and so many of them!!

DIMI said...

Hello Eileen!!
Great post!Amazing shots and captures of the swans!!Such beautiful birds!!Thank you for sharing!Wish you a happy week!
Dimi...

Carver said...

Fantastic shots. Your birding shots are always a joy to see.

Stephanie said...

Gorgeous shots!

Patrycja (photoopassion) said...

Spotkać tyle królewskich ptaków to coś na prawdę przepięknego !!!
Dziękuję za odwiedziny. :)

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Such beautiful birds, graceful and elegant.

September Violets said...

I never knew that Mute Swans were not native to America. Where were they from originally? England? We have mute swans nesting in the marsh areas along Lake Ontario, but I've not seen tundra swans here. Thanks for sharing! Wendy x

orchid0324 said...

Dearest Eileen;
Oh My!!! How BEAUTIFUL♡♡♡ The ones we used to have in our city park had orange beak. And there were black swan among them, great scene it was; sigh and a bit of tear (^^;)
Thank you very much for the great view♫♫♫

Sending you Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*

Brian King said...

Beautiful photos of the swans! Fortunately, we don't have Mute Swans around here.

Louis la Vache said...

Very interesting, Eileen!
«Louis» had no idea the Mute Swan was such a pest!
(The must be akin to Congress...)
:-)

Tammy said...

The swans are gorgeous! I haven't seen a Tundra Swan before; how magnificent! Great shots! Hope you are having a great week!

Carletta said...

A wonderful post on the comparison Eileen.
I really like the in flight shot of the Trumpeter and the one of the Mute Swan couple.
Lovely shots!

DeniseinVA said...

I learned a lot from this post today Eileen and great photos! Thank you, a wonderfl post!

Saun said...

Gorgeous I have never seen so many at one time. Happy Shooting

Saun

Sonja said...

I agree that it's sad when humans interfere with wildlife, deliberately changing the range of species which causes problems with other wildlife, but we don't learn! The swans themselves are beautiful.

Elaine said...

Lovely photos! It won't be too long before we see the Trumpeter and Tundra Swans here.

Noushka said...

Hello Eileen
Sorry if I didn't leave a comment on each of your posts, time becomes a luxury these days here!
A great comparison between those beautiful swans!
I discovered the Surf Scoters I have never seen before!
Thanks for sharing all this with us!

Grampy said...

Nice to learn about the swans with such lovely captures.

Seraphinas Phantasie said...

Marvelous photos of this swans. I like this clear white of the feathers and your wonderful photos. Amazing !
Best regards, Synnöve

Thomas Lee said...

looks huge

Crafty Green Poet said...

The tundra swans are lovely. So are the mute swans though i can imagine they could become a menace if you have them in the wring place. Here they're native and although sometimes aggressive seem to cohabit nicely with all our other native species

Rambling Woods said...

Great birdy post Eileen..I know that the mute swans are a problem in areas here and I think they take lethal means to deal with them for the reasons you stated..Michelle

Unknown said...

I love swans! They're gorgeous birds. Have a great week.

Debbie said...

wonderful eileen, LOVE the second to last image of the mute swans with the grass!!

♥ Łucja-Maria ♥ said...

Beautiful birds and great photos.
On Saturday it will choose to look for swans.
Greetings.
  Lucia ♥ ♥ ♥

Our photos said...

That's a lot of swan !

NatureFootstep said...

nice to see all those Tundra Swans. :)

Bob Bushell said...

Isn't it so inspired by the looks and the sounds on the Tundra Swans, beautiful photos.

Pat said...

Beautiful, elegant birds.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I didn't know that about the Mute swan..about them being aggressive to natives. Great shots!

i stora drag said...

Hi Eileen!
That was intersting what you write about the swans!
I have never seen any Tundra swans, so I think they never visits Sweden?
Here the Mute swans are common and also the Wooper swans.
The birds should stay were they belong, it seems to me! We have a lot of problem with the Canada geese here in my country.
Have a nice week and thank for your comment! /Pia

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Swans may be beautiful, but those males, watch out...even the photographer can be a target. These are so pretty and I would love to see a Tundra Swan some time too~

Helma said...

I love swans and you had last time even though such a beautiful swan blog. Now I see wild swans and mute swans. I even see cygnets in your blog. With us, it takes a while but they are there to :-)

Liz said...

What gorgeous images, Eileen! We have the black variety of swans in Australia which are equally as striking. They are such graceful birds. Enjoy your weekend. :)

magda in queensland australia said...

Hi Eileen,
Swans would have to be one of most elegant of birds I feel.
Love the photos of the Tundra Swans. I'm truly awed seeing them contentedly being on what would be extremely cold water, and standing, resting and walking about on the snowy ice.
Not having lived with such temperatures except via my fridge or freezer, I keep being amazed at how their webbed feet do not freeze.
Truly wondrous, even though the reason is a logical one, I just think of my own feet... well they would just freeze solid and snap off.

Sad story of the Mute Swan.
Too often such stories happen. When not sufficient thought is given to the consequences of introducing a non-native species to an area that could survive in the wild, the result is usually devastating to something.
Interesting how often something introduced will flourish almost better than native flora and fauna.
I hope a balance can be found.
I know toads in Australia are devastating for wildlife, especially native frogs, and toads are still increasing and spreading regardless of methods applied.
It's not the toad's fault, just like it isn't the rabbit's fault, but they are devastating to the environment they are not a native of.
Thank you very much for your visit to my Blue-face Posting. Deeply appreciated.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

All the swans are beautiful -- but it is sad that the Mutes are infringing on native birds. Florida has such a huge problem with invasive and/or non-native species. I wish there were a good answer.

Unknown said...

They look so graceful and gorgeous.

Maria said...

The Mute Swan is simply gorgeous.

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