Mute swan: The elegant bird of Russian ballets

article and photo by Rose Collison

“The exotic Mute Swan is the elegant bird of Russian ballets and European fairy tales,” according to Cornell labs. This swan swims with its long neck curved into an S and often holds its wings raised slightly above its back.

Although they’re numerous and familiar in city parks and in bays and lakes in the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes, Northeast, and Midatlantic, Mute Swans are not native to North America. Their aggressive behavior and voracious appetites often disturb local ecosystems, displace native species, and even pose a hazard to humans.

Mute Swans were first brought to North America to decorate ponds and lakes in towns and cities, and that’s still the best place to find these familiar waterfowl. You may also find them on shallow wetlands, lakes, rivers, and estuaries within the scattered range where they’ve become established in the wild.

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. Their closest relatives include geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. Mute Swan- weighs 24-26 lbs., wing span is 6.6-7.9 ft., length-4.1-5.6ft.

Mute swan enjoys the day.

Gorgeous Mute Swan out for a solo swim as the mate waits ashore, probably nurturing a nest.