Swans
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Swans

 
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ghiribizzo
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Joined: 22 Nov 2005
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Location: Ferryport-on-Craig. The Kingdom of Fife.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:13 pm    Post subject: Swans Reply with quote

One for the learned elders...
- When Swans pair up and nest; once they've dragged up the Ugly Ducklings, do they return to the same location the next time they breed?
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Wildlifewriter
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Location: Norn Iron

PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Swans Reply with quote

ghiribizzo wrote:
One for the learned elders...
- When Swans pair up and nest; once they've dragged up the Ugly Ducklings, do they return to the same location the next time they breed?

If you're talking about our resident swans - Mute Swan cygnus olor - the short answer is: "Yes - if they can."

Mute swans are highly territorial in the breeding season, and - like all swans - they mate for life. An experienced pair which have found a good nest site will use it in successive years, the male chasing off any interlopers which might show an interest.

Young swans are usually chased off the breeding territory after their first moult (when they become white) and these tend to form large winter flocks - often gathering at public waterside spots where they can cadge food. They don't breed in the initial two (sometimes three) years.

As with almost all birds, first-time breeders have it tough: all the best nest sites are taken, and the cob (male) isn't experienced enough to battle for one.

They end up using less favourable nesting places, which may not succeed.

Migratory swans - Whoopers and Bewick's in this country - don't have the same problem. They breed in the sub-arctic, where there's plenty of space for all during the season. Smile


-Wlw
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ghiribizzo
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Joined: 22 Nov 2005
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Location: Ferryport-on-Craig. The Kingdom of Fife.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:04 pm    Post subject: Re: Swans Reply with quote

Wildlifewriter wrote:

If you're talking about our resident swans - Mute Swan cygnus olor - the short answer is: "Yes - if they can."
Wlw


Thanks. That'll be one cache off-list later on then.
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Haggis Hunter
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The two swans at my place of work are here all year long, wings probably clipped. The Cob has allowed one of it's daughters to stay around for the past two years, dirty old bugger!
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Wildlifewriter
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Location: Norn Iron

PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 11:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haggis Hunter wrote:
The two swans at my place of work are here all year long, wings probably clipped. The Cob has allowed one of it's daughters to stay around for the past two years, dirty old bugger!

That is possible.

I knew a pair (at Maghermorne, Co. Antrim) where a first-year female was sent packing by her parents - and refused to go! She returned to the territory again and again, and eventually was (grudgingly) allowed to remain there all through the next summer.

The territory is still in use, even though it's very near housing. The birds are regularly persecuted by local dead-end kids, but a nest is built every year despite this.

-----------

My favourite Mute Swan anecdote concerns the resident squad at WWT Ouse Washes, in East Anglia....

They live there all year, getting corn handouts from the reserve staff - but each winter, the flooded meadows see an influx of many thousands of migratory swans, Pochard, Teal and other waterfowl.

At winter feeding times, pochard nip in among the swans and hoover up the floating grain and bran. This piracy gets the Mutes thoroughly pissed off, and I've seen them grab Pochard by the neck in a fit of ill temper, and try to drown them.

But a Pochard is a diving duck, and is able to hold its breath much longer than a swan can. Eventually, the swan is forced to let go and raise its head, whereupon the duck bobs to the suface, gives its tormentor a look as to say: "Up yours..." - and swims off, completely unharmed. Smile

-Wlw
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Billy Twigger
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Joined: 30 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 1:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



Where's that Pochard gone?
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Haggis Hunter
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 1:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BT showing off his camera skills again Laughing Laughing

Nice bird you've got there!
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Billy Twigger
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What sound does a Mute Swan make anyway? Rolling Eyes
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Wildlifewriter
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Billy Twigger wrote:
What sound does a Mute Swan make anyway? Rolling Eyes

It goes...

"Aaaaooooow! Hurgh! Mercy, mercy mercy - HUH!"

Sorry, no... my mistake....

... that's James Brown.

I always get them mixed up.


-Wlw
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Firth of Forth
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a question about Australian swans. All Australian swans are black (and they are very friendly creatures too). So, are Australian swans descended from a pair of black ones taken there at some point in the past, or have they just developed differently over the centuries?
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Last edited by Firth of Forth on Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:52 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Wildlifewriter
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Firth of Forth wrote:
So, are Australian swams descended from a pair of black ones taken there at some point in the past, or have they just developed differently over the centuries?

I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know for sure.

I always thought they were a different species, in their own right.

-Wlw
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ghiribizzo
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cygnus atratus.
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Firth of Forth
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ghiribizzo wrote:
Cygnus atratus.


Ok, thanks. So, the black swans are native to Australia. It just seems very strange that all of the other creatures and vegatation in Australia are so different to everywhere else, and yet the native swans are exactly the same as those found here, except for their colour (and nature perhaps).
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Wildlifewriter
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 11:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Agreed - it's pretty low-key, compared to some of the really weird stuff that appears Down Unda. (Don't get me started on the Platypus. Smile )

"Black" swans are occasionally reported here in GB. This seems to be down to four explanations:-

1) True cygnus atratus which have escaped from wildfowl collections.

2) Melanistic native swans - which are very very rare.

3) Dark coloured first-winter juveniles. These are really brown, but can look almost "black" in bad light, compared with their elders and betters.

4) Excess alcohol. (The single most common reason for dodgy bird reports.)


-Wlw.
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