On the Wildside: Our heaviest bird is the not quite so quiet mute swan

Whooper swans make a loud trumpeting call, and Bewick’s swans make a rather softly mellow ‘hoo hoo’ noise. This is our resident swan species with two others, the whooper swan and the rather uncommon Bewick’s swan being winter visitors. Whoopers do breed in Britain but just a handful of birds in the far northern isles of the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. We sometimes get flocks of migrating whoopers overhead here in Sheffield, and they often winter in the fenlands. With their bright orange bills and distinctive knobs on the beak, the mute swan is very obvious.

Their wingspans stretch to around two and a half metres. When they fly, at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, the wingbeats make a unique and characteristic drumming or throbbing ‘waou waou’ sound.

Mute swans are around five feet long and weigh over 20 pounds. They are our only swan species that sport an orange bill with the other two swans having beaks that are yellow and black. Mute swans are to be seen on a wide variety of water-bodies, from park ponds and lakes, to reservoirs, rivers, and canals. They are resident breeders and so are with us all year-round, and on their breeding-sites can be territorial and more than a little feisty, being known to attack attacked canoeists, kayakers, and pedestrians if they intrude on the swans’ patch!

They have been recorded living as long as 30 years or perhaps more, but generally they reach around twenty years. Their remarkable, ritual, winter courtship has been likened to a dance of synchronised head-dipping with necks creating a heart-shape, and breasts pressed together. They pair for life but will find a new mate if their partner dies.

Professor Ian D. Rotherham, researcher, writer & broadcaster on wildlife & environmental issues, is contactable on [email protected]; follow Ian’s blog (https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/) and Twitter @IanThewildside