Mute swan: beat up half the population of a reservoir so that the rest sit quieter than grass (13 photos)

We are all used to the fact that a swan is a symbol of tenderness, loyalty and love. But in life it is a fighting machine: they know no mercy and are capable of drowning even a person. Today you will have a lot of disappointments and an acquaintance with real wild nature.





Myth number one. Swans are gentle and very vulnerable creatures

Ha-ha. A standard adult male weighs about 14 kg, and with sufficient nutrition he eats up to 23 kg. Coupled with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters, the mute swan's size makes them one of the largest flying birds in the world.



Go ahead and delete the photo! I'm too fat there!

And this is not just a "gentle giant". The mute swan is a fighting machine for destroying rivals and threats. If the swans decide to occupy a part of the pond and build a nest there, they will destroy all those who dare to interfere with them. Like Bonnie and Clyde, a pair of swans raid their neighbors on the pond. Adult birds: ducks, geese, coots - they drown, pinch, beat with their beaks and wings. They break other birds' nests, destroy their clutches, and kill their chicks.





Oh no, IT'S BACK AGAIN!

In some countries, swans are not considered a pond decoration, but an invasive species. Therefore, in their natural habitat, that is, Europe and Asia, the birds are regularly caught, banded, and their numbers are controlled using gentle methods. But in the USA and Canada, where people have settled swans, the birds cannot be bred or sold. Wild populations are regularly reduced by egg removal and shooting of adults.



Can you imagine how much anger and rage it takes to make a goose run away from you?!

By the way, it's not only birds that can get it: swans periodically attack small mammals and large dogs - they beat them and deliberately drown them. Moreover, there is a recorded case of a feathered giant drowning... a man! The bird attacked a boat, causing it to capsize. The man fell into the water, but the swan didn't let him reach the shore.



Sorry, but I didn't order a rowing master class...

To save themselves from the swan's fury, the British wrote an appeal to the Queen herself! In 2016, a very aggressive mute swan appeared on a lake in Suffolk. It put out local birds, attacked dogs, but most importantly, it broke model boats. Some of which cost up to £15,000.



A photo of the very swan that sank model boats. Its owner spent more than six months creating it!

Yes, all these cases did not occur due to great hatred for all living things: the birds were simply defending their nest and their territory. But this is enough to shatter the myth of "cute and gentle" birds into pieces.



What the games of the older and younger brothers look like.

Myth number two: the swan song

It is known from the stories of ancient philosophers. They say that the bird spends its entire life in noble silence, but as soon as the hour of death comes, it sings an unimaginably wonderful and magical song. Either because it is sad about the past, or, on the contrary, rejoices that bliss and eternal paradise await ahead. Even the name of the species indicates this feature: in English, the mute swan is called a "mute swan".



They say that silence is golden. This bird simply did not make any sounds, but so many beautiful fairy tales were invented about it!

This myth is only partly true. Compared to other long-necked birds, the mute swan is indeed silent. This is due to the structure of the trachea. In other species, this part of the body is extended using a loop. Thanks to this, the trumpeter swan and whooper swan are able to sing for several kilometers around. The mute swan's trachea is structured like that of other birds - without any special inventiveness. Therefore, its repertoire of sounds is extremely limited: birds snort, grunt, whistle, chirp, but do not do it loudly.



The trachea of the mute swan is structured in the same way as the trachea of the black swan. In this case, pay attention to the hook that the trachea makes in the whooper and trumpeter.

Myth number three. Swan fidelity

Wedding cakes are decorated with figures of two white birds, they are drawn on festive tablecloths and postcards. Poems and romantic paintings are dedicated to their “pure and devoted” love. But all this time you have been brazenly deceived! Swan love is much closer to pragmatic reality than we would like.



A mother of eight angels arranges a showdown in the pool.

Now let's figure out how it all happens in real life. Usually, birds form mating pairs during wintering. This is logical, because swans fly to warmer climes in large flocks - up to 1000 individuals! Among them, young swans are looking for their other half. The young ones arrange mating demonstrations for each other: they swim together, sing together, clean their feathers together. But they only start to reproduce in real life in the 2nd or 3rd year of life.



That same couple that can't tear themselves away from each other in public places, but break up after one quarrel.

And here's the nuance: not all couples will pass the test of "everyday life" and time. Yes, everything is like with people. Young birds change partners quickly and without regrets - literally in a month he or she can already clean the feathers of another lover. There are many reasons for this, from the inability to stand up for a future family to unsuitable characters. The "get used to it" approach doesn't work for them.



When you decide to just stay friends with her.

Of course, adult swans try to remain faithful, but they are also far from ideal. According to various sources, up to 10% of swan couples break up forever. The most common reasons for divorce are the inability to produce offspring together and the death of one of the spouses. If the clutch or chicks die for some reason, then the couple also risks breaking up. Even if it was "not about them", the failed parents can still try to have swans with another partner.



At the same time, swan parents are excellent. Both mother and father watch over their offspring, protect them, and even ride them on their backs!

Therefore, legends about the death of birds from longing for a dead "spouse" are nothing more than a myth. Yes, the loss of a partner during the mating season makes the bird stressed. In rare cases, stress leads to a weakened immune system, loss of appetite, and subsequent death. But this is more an exception than a normal reaction. It is precisely this exception that gave rise to a bunch of fairy tales. Real swans teach real wisdom: life does not end with one spouse!