Swan a beautiful bird but heavy weight
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| swan world |
Swans are familiar and popular waterfowl, and while there are only seven species of swans. Swans have large, powerful wings and webbed feet.
Swans typically lay 5 eggs. This bird is much faster on land than you might suspect with speeds of 22 miles an hour. In the water, it can also achieve speeds of around 1.6 miles per hour.
There are six living and many extinct species of swan. These birds belong to the waterfowl family (scientific name Anatidae) along with ducks and geese. Swans can swim gracefully through the water.
Male swan
Males (called cobs) are generally larger than females (called pens), but the characteristics of their plumage are remarkably similar. These birds are quite defensive animals that will do anything to protect their young. Swans also dance, make noises, and spend time with each other. When you take a close look, each swan is different than the other, and although people say snow geese look just like swans, they really are quite different.
Swans names
A male swan is called a Cob. The female is called a Pen and the young of the year are called cygnets. Swans are highly intelligent and sharp vision and impeccable hearing. Swans are gracefully long-necked, heavy-bodied, big-footed birds. A mute swan has 23 vertebrae more than any other bird. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are birds of the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese.
Species
There are six living species of swans and many other known from the fossil record.
These include the mute -, the whooper -, the trumpeter -, the tundra -, the black -, and the black-necked swan.
Each species has different colored plumage. The common mute swan is completely covered in white feathers some black markings on the face. The trumpeter swan has white feathers and a black bill. The tundra and whooper swan both have a mixture of black and yellow on the bill. The black-necked swan has black feathers all along the neck, plus a black bill, a red knob around the bill, and white markings around the eyes. The black swan is entirely covered in black feathers with a bright red bill and pale tip.
Life span
In the wild, with all the hazards they have to live with vandals, pollution, dogs, mink, overhead cables, bridges, pylons, lead poisoning and fishing-tackle injuries. Their lifespan average would be 12 years. Some experts says that Swans can live for 8 to 12 years. The swan average weight is between the black-necked swan at 15 pounds and the mute swan at 30 pounds and sometimes more.
Female swan
The female pen lays a clutch of about three to eight eggs in the nest. She spends most of the time incubating the eggs while the male stands guard nearby, but the male will sometimes join in on incubation duties as well. The incubation period typically lasts a month. The young babies (cygnets) have short necks and a thick down of feathers. They are capable of running and swimming almost immediately. But the parents are still careful. They reach full sexual maturity after three or four years and their lifespan is, some 20 years in the wild and up to 50 years in captivity.
Baby swan
Immature birds(young) wear mottled gray or brown plumage(feathers) for two or more years. Swans mature in the third or fourth year and live perhaps 20 years in the wild and 50 years.
After the breeding season, the bird migrates to warmer climates in the winter. The fully migratory species typically live in colder climates and may travel the same route thousands of miles every year toward warmer climates.
Food or Diet
This bird is an herbivorous animal that feeds exclusively on roots, leaves, stems, shoots, and other plants. Swans are Omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals.
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