THE MUTE SWANS HISTORY AS OF 2009

The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. They are found in seventy countries (U.N.Environmental Program) legally hunted in none, admired and found on many stamps,coins and protected, except for a recently initiated program in some of the United States.

Although they tend to be quieter than other kinds of swans, they are not mute, and do vocalize. The Mute Swan is less vocal than other Swans; the most familiar sound associated with Mute Swan is the whooshing of the wings in flight once this bird has laboriously taken off from the water. This sound, peculiar to the species, was noted by John James Audubon in his Birds of America In the section on swans, where he stated that he "would accept the possibility of another swan species on the American continent" in addition to the Trumpeter and Tundra swans.

Taxonomy

The Mute Swan was first described by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin
in 1789. Both cygnus and olor mean "swan" in Latin; cygnus is related to the Greek
kyknos. However, until the 1930s when the American Ornithologists' Union
changed the species name, it was known as Sthenelides olor, confusing some record keeping and researchers. For example, most of the work done by Hildegard Howard at the California Museum of Natural History refers to the Mute Swan as Sthenelides olor. However, her earlier work referred to Cygnus olor, or simply Mute Swan, in identifications.

There are no recognized living subspecies of the Mute Swan. The morph immutabilis ("Poland Swan"), in which the cygnets are dull white, is not a subspecies because it occurs in all populations.

Studies

The most extensive studies of Mute swans were done by the government of Sweden at the request of fishermen who thought the birds were destroying the eelgrass and keeping fish away. It ran over a six and a half year period and resulted in a total exoneration of the Mute swans, while contributing to the knowledge of wildlife agencies,everywhere. (Berglund,B.E.et al, 1963. Ecological Studieson the Mute swan(Cygnus olor) in southeastern Sweden, Acta Vertebractica, 2(2) 1963.

Evolution

Mute swan subfossils, 6,000 years old, are found in post-glacial peat beds of East Anglia, Great Britain. They have also been recorded from Ireland east to Portugal and Italy, and from France, 13,000 BP (Desbrosse and Mourer-Chauvire 1972-1973). Fossils of Mute Swan ancestors have been found in four US states: California, Arizona, Idaho and Oregon. The timeline runs from the Miocene to the late Pleistocene, or 10,000 BP. The latest find was in Anza Borrego Desert, a national park in California.

E.C. Peilou, the Canadian expert on the Ice Age and animals that came across Bering Strait, has suggested that the fossilized mute swans did not become extinct; rather, like the Trumpeters did, they continued to live in small numbers in very remote areas.

The presence of Mute Swans in James Bay, Canada, prior to European colonization is shown by a specimen shot, in all probability, by market hunters in the mid to late 1600s.

Fossils from the Pleistocene include Cygnus paloregonus from Fossil Lake, Oregon, Froman's Ferry, Idaho, and Arizona, referred to by Howard in Waterfowl of the World pp. 262-265 as "probably the mute type swan". Paleosubspecies Cygnus olor bergmanni, which differed only in size from the living bird, is known from fossils found in Azerbaijan.

The largest Mute Swans are found in the Caspian Sea area, on migration, even into the present.

Description

Adults of this large swan range from 125 to 170 cm (49-67 in) long with a 200-240 cm (79-95 in) wingspan. They may stand over 1.2 m (4 ft) tall on land. Males are larger than females and have a larger knob on their bill.

The Mute Swan is one of the heaviest flying birds, with males (known as cobs) averaging about 12 kg (27 lbs) and females (known as "pens") more than 8 kg (19 lbs). An unusually big Polish cob weighed almost 23 kg (50 lbs), surpassing the longer-bodied Trumpeter Swan to make it the heaviest waterfowl ever recorded. Its size, orange-reddish bill and white plumage make this swan almost unmistakable at close quarters. Surveys done by airplane, however, often mistake the species, creating questionable counts. The most similar species is the Whooper Swan, but it has a yellow and black bill, lacks the curved "swan" neck, is longer and heavier, and lacks the characteristic projection above the bill.

Young birds, called cygnets, are not the bright white of mature adults, and their bill is black, not orange, for the first year. The color of the down may range from pure white to grey to a buff color. The grey/buff coloration is most common. The white colored cygnets have a leucistic gene, seen most often in the north central states in America and in Poland. All Mute Swans are white at maturity.

History and habitat

This species of bird is found naturally mainly in temperate areas of Europe across western Asia, as far east as the Russian maritimes, near Sidemi. Gmelin (1789) and John Latham (1824) reported Mute Swans present in Kamchatka in the 1700s and still nesting there in 2007. Heilprin recorded Mute Swans arriving in Alaska across the Bering Strait.
It is migratory throughout northern latitudes in Europe and Asia, as far south as north Africa and in the Mediterranean. It is known and recorded to have nested in Iceland and is vagrant to that area, as well as to Bermuda, according to the U.N. Environmental Programme chart of international status chart of bird species, which places it in seventy countries.

A recent reevaluation of a watercolor done by John White in 1585, while on a scientific exploration for Sir Walter Raleigh to America, reveals much earlier occupation by Cygnus olor (Mute Swan) on the Atlantic coast.

New Evidence of Early Presence of Cygnus olor

Kathryn Stillwell Burton, Old Lyme, CT

Abstract: For many years, despite solid evidence to the contrary, the Mute swan (Cygnus olor) has been called a non-native bird, imported from Europe. It is, in fact, an ancient circumboreal bird, with a history across Europe and Asia and into the Russian Maritimes and Kamchatka, (Dement’ev 1967, Weiloch 1992) a major staging area for millions of birds on migration across the American continent, a short distance away. It has been recorded in Alaska (Sladen and King 1976, Heilprin 2006), Saskatchewan (Greenwood, 2000) and found in 17th century, precolonized James Bay area at Ft. Albany (Baldwin and Churcher 1967). Douglas Sadler and Howard G. Savage (2003) notes several digs in the James Bay area, confirming a very early presence of Mute Swans in Canada. Federal agency testimony in Federal Court, District of Columbia, USA, states that Mute Swans migrate from the Hudson Bay into the United States (Cirianca 2003). This is an ancient route, in which prevailing winds and open waters, but not “the hand of man” assists migration.

Introduction

A criteria used in the US Federal Register, 01/2005, relating to the “nativeness” of the Mute Swan asks: “Why, if it has been here since before colonization, John White did not paint a Mute swan, while he DID paint the Trumpeter Swan in 1585 Roanoke?” That was a trick question. In fact, the Mute Swan (left) is from the British Museum’s John White Collection. This watercolour, done during the 1585 scientific exploration to America for Sir Walter Raleigh, is on watermarked paper, (1580s) revealing much earlier occurrence of Cygnus olor (Mute Swan) on the Atlantic coast, than previously thought. It was mislabelled in the 1960s as a “Trumpeter Swan”, at the University of North Carolina, but of course, it is not. Among northern hemisphere swans, only the Mute Swan has a knob, on a black bill in this painting, because the leaded paint used, four hundred years ago, degraded with time, according to Kim Sloan, (2007) curator of the John White collection, at the British Museum. In her book, A New World, the process is described in depth. The knob, s-curved neck, lifted rear feathers, in fact the entire countenance defines the Mute Swan in the field. There are several swans clearly identifiable as Mute swans in the De Bry engravings in Thomas Harriot’s journal, kept during the exploration in 1585 Virginia.

Historian and scholar, David Beers Quinn (1964) and Paul Hulton (1964) former Director of the British Museum, compiled the artworks and records of the Roanoke Voyages and produced “The Complete Drawings of John White” in two volumes. Hulton wrote “ It is clear that White’s main aim was to impart information and that his drawings can be considered purely as historical and scientific documents of remarkable validity.” Quinn wrote that “there would be nothing in the paintings that the artist did not see, these men were scientists” (pers. comm.).

Clearly, White felt it his mission to show what he saw, and over the period in which he was in Virginia, he saw Mute Swans. If he had seen and drawn Trumpeter swans, that would have been of more interest to the people back in England, but obviously, he did not. The mislabelling of the drawing, at University of North Carolina, is very curious, and deserves additional research.

Titled by the artist as simply, "The Swann", it was mislabeled in the 1960s as a "Trumpeter Swan," probably because its bill is black. However, scientists at the British Museum, holder of the collection, say that lead in the paint used by White has degraded over the four hundred years, turning some colors grey or black. The S-curved neck, the knob, the lifted rear feathers, and the overall appearance of the bird suggest it is not a trumpeter.

In 2003 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to "minimize environmental damages attributed to mute swans" by reducing their numbers in the Atlantic Flyway to pre-1986levels, a 67% reduction at the time. According to the 2003 Federal Register
the proposal was supported by all thirteen state wildlife agencies which submitted comments as well as by 43 bird conservation, wildlife conservation and wildlife management organizations. Ten animal rights organizations and the vast majority of comments from individuals were opposed. At this time Mute Swans were protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act due to a court order, but in 2005 the Department of the Interior officially declared them a non-native, unprotected species. Mute Swans are protected in some areas of theU.S.by local laws, as for example in Connecticut.

World population

The population of Mute Swans in the United Kingdom is believed to be about 25,000, as of 2006. In Ireland there are about 10,000 pairs. In Russia/Siberia it has gone through many population fluctuations due to human activities, including wars and starvation. The most recent numbers are estimated in the hundreds of thousands; however, some of these may be mistakenly identified as Mute Swans when they are instead the Whooper Swan,
Bewick's Swan or Tundra Swan, which are also found wild there.

The UN Environmental Programme lists Cygnus olor (Mute Swan) as found in 70 countries, breeding in 49 countries, and vagrant in 16 countries. While thought to have been "introduced" in Japan, recent discoveries of Mute Swans depicted on scrolls more than a thousand years old put that statement into question. Natural migrations to Japan have been recorded, and Mute Swans continue to migrate to Japan in winter, along with Whooper and sometimes Bewick's Swans.

This species is often kept in captivity outside its natural range, as a decoration for parks and ponds, and escapes have happened. The descendants of such birds have become naturalised in the eastern United States and Great Lakes.

Behavior

Mute Swans nest on large mounds that they build in shallow water in the middle or at the very edge of a lake. These monogamous birds reuse the same nest each year, restoring or rebuilding it as needed. Male and female swans share the care of the nest, and once the cygnets are fledged it is not uncommon to see whole families looking for food. They feed on submerged aquatic vegetation, reached with their long necks. This bird can often be found in colonies of over 100 individuals such as at the southern tip of Öland Island, Ottenby Preserve, in the coastal waters of the Baltic Sea.
These large groups are generally non-mated juveniles. Once the adults are mated they seek out their own territories and often live close to ducks and gulls, who take advantage of the swan's ability to reach weeds, which tend to spread out on the water surface.

Although this bird can be tame, especially to those who feed it daily, it is aggressive in defence of its nest, and its size and impressive hissing make it a formidable adversary for animals as large as a fox., but snapping turtles, loose dogs, little boys taught to throw rocks at them and jet skiers who attack them outright, are commonplace. The eggs of the Mute swans are attacked by skunks, raccoons, gulls,crows,hawks and other preditor birds.
Large waterfowl, such as Canada Geese may be chased or driven off. There have been
reports of Mute Swans attacking people who enter their territory, but The male (Cob) is responsible for defending the cygnets while on the water, and will sometimes attack small watercraft, such as jet skis or canoes, that it feels are a threat to its young. (since egg addling is regularly performed in some parts of the country, from canoes and by jet skiers and the swans are very intelligent creatures, this might be considered a defensive tactic.
Most birds will attack a preditor, even a human preditor, aiming for their heads or eyes,
yelling all the time. This is self preservation, in man and in bird.

The phrase swan song refers to this swan and to the legend that it is utterly silent until the last moment of its life, and then sings one achingly beautiful song just before dying; in reality, the Mute Swan is not completely silent, but has a kind of guttural warning call it will give when approached.

Unlike Black SwanMute Swans are strongly territorial. The familiar pose with neck curved back and wings half raised, known as busking, is a male threat display. The Mute Swan is protected in most of its range, but this has not prevented illegal hunting and poaching
Mute Swans, while called mute, do sometimes make grunting, clicking, barking and snorting noises, especially in th.e training of their cygnets, and usually hiss to predators trying to enter their territory. Black Swans and Whooper Swans are less aggressive and are not as defensive against predators. Trumpeter Swans will sometimes leave their nests if threatened and they have been known to attacked sea planes and trucks in the wilderness, students walking by, at the U of Indiana, and according to Joe Johnson, the swan man at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, they never let the public see the Trumpeters and Mute swans together, because the Trumpeter will attack the Mute Swans and that is not the reputation they want for the newly renewed species. All swans will attack land animals in defense of their families, during the period before fledging of their offspring (which, at six months, is longer than that of most other birds),
In culture


* A Mute Swan was shown on the official Euro during 2005 when the Union was headed by the President of Ireland

• Socrates' last words before being put to death in 399 BC: "You think I cannot see as far ahead as a swan. You know that when swans feel the approach of death they sing, and they sing sweeter and louder on the last days of their lives because they are going back to that God whom they serve." (Plato)
• The Mute Swan is the national bird of the Kingdom of Denmark.
• The fairy tale The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen tells the story of a cygnet ostracized by his fellow barnyard fowl because of his perceived homeliness. To his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a graceful swan, the most beautiful bird of all.
• Today, the Crown (the British monarch) retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but the Queen only exercises her ownership on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries. This ownership is shared with the Vintners' and Dyers' Companies, who were granted rights of ownership by the Crown in the fifteenth century. See Swan upping
• The Mute Swans in the moat at the Bishop's Palace at Wells Cathedral, Wells, England via strings attached to them to beg for food. Two Swans are still able to ring for lunch. Bell Ringing Swans Of Wells, England Official Website
• There is rich iconic and literary evidence for Celtic bird-goddesses who took the form of swans. Similarly, swans are highly revered in Hinduism. The Roman Julius Caesar noted that the British tribes thought wild geese and swans "unlawful" to eat or kill. By medieval times, though, swans were considered an edible form of poultry.
• Nowadays they are a protected species in many countries.