Mute Swan - Cygnus olor




Scientific Name: Cygnus olor (Anatidae).


English Name: Mute Swan (Ducks and Geese family).


French Name: Le Cygne tuberculé (='Tuberculate Swan') or le Cygne muet (='Mute Swan').


5 Key Characters:
  • a very large bird, a metre and a half from beak to tail.
  • well proportioned, giving an overall appearance of gracefulness, holding its neck in the classic elegant 'S' profile when swimming.
  • makes the most extraordinary whistling whooshing sound with its wings in flight that can be heard for miles.
  • conspicuous black knob (the tubercule) on the beak.
  • the only swan species in this area.

Lookalikes: None in this area (except maybe big white domestic geese).


Habitat: Lakes (including in parks), flooded gravel pits, étangs, sometimes on the rivers.


Status: Common and widespread.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

1 comment:

  1. The female's "knob" is much smaller when compared to the male...
    especially in the breeding season.
    The male bill is a deep orange... the female is lighter...
    tending toward yellow...
    but NEVER as yellow as Whooper or Bewicks.

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