Tag: male swan

DEAD SWAN UPDATE

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Male Swan Niles Pond September ©Kim Smith 2015A listless Mr. Swan this past Saturday

Mr. Swan is slowly coming back to life and has begun to move around to his other pond homes. He is very lonely still and cries his plaintive cry however, one of our dear readers writes that when he lost his first wife about six years ago, a cormorant came and sat with him everyday until “Little Girl Swan” showed up on the scene (his second wife). Hopefully history will repeat itself. Mr. Swan is thought to be about twenty years old, which is remarkable for a swan in the wild.

Male Female Swan January 2014 Niles Pond ©Kim Smith 2014

Mr. (right) and Mrs. (left) sharing pond vegetation with ducks, Niles Pond January 2014

Thank you to all who have written, sent photos, and reported sightings. We’re so blessed to be a part of this wonderfully caring community.

Female swan cygnet June 2015 ©Kim Smith 2015

Mrs. Swan and Cygnet June 2015

Mute swan male female cygnet cygnus olor ©Kim Smith 2015RIP Mrs. Swan and Cygnet

HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MALE AND FEMALE SWAN

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Mute Swan male female çygnus olor ©Kim Smith 2015Side-by-side Comparison ~ Female Swan Back, Male Swan Front

Have you ever wondered whether you are looking at a male or female swan? I had often until I learned that the male’s black protuberance at the base of the bill swells during the breeding season. Very recently, I learned that the fleshy black knob has a name. So now rather than calling it a knob, nobble, thingamabob, or that black protuberance above the bill, I can say blackberry, and you can too. That really is an often used term in Europe, their native home. The blackberry is also unique to Mute Swans; no other species of swans has this feature.

Mute swan male female cygnet cygnus olor ©Kim Smith 2015I’ve posted this photo before however, it shows very well the different sizes of the male and female’s blackberries. Male, left; female, right.

BEAUTIFUL BABY SWAN GONE

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Mute swan cygnet Massachusetts -1©Kim Smith 2015The beautiful single cygnet at Henry’s Pond has disappeared. Did anyone by chance see what happened?

Mute swan cygnet pen, female Massachusetts ©Kim Smith 2015May 28, 2015

Mute swan cygnet cob pen, female male Massachusetts ©Kim Smith 2015May 30th, male, or cob on the left, female pen on the right, cygnet tucked between the two

Mute swan cygnet -3 Massachusetts ©Kim Smith 2015June 7th, adeptly preening, or oiling its feathers.

Mute swan cygnet pen, female Massachusetts -2 ©Kim Smith 2015Anytime is nap time.

Mute swan cygnet pen, female Massachusetts -3 ©Kim Smith 2015June 12th early morning, last sighting.