Swan
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For other uses, see Swan (disambiguation).
Swans
Temporal range: Late Miocene-Holocene swans 1 swans swans 2 swans
Mute swans
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Anserinae
Genus: Cygnus
Garsault, 1764
Type species
Cygnus cygnus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species
6–7 living, see text.
Synonyms
Cygnanser Kretzoi, 1957
Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. swans 3 swans
The swans' close relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with
the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe
Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There
are six or seven living (and one extinct) species of swan in the genus Cygnus;
in addition, there is another species known as the coscoroba swan, although this
species is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for
life, although “divorce” sometimes occurs, particularly following nesting
failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The
number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight. swans 4 swans
Contents
1 Etymology and terminology
2 Description
3 Distribution and movements
4 Behaviour
5 Systematics and evolution
5.1 Phylogeny
5.2 Species
5.3 Fossil record
6 In culture
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Etymology and terminology
The English word 'swan', akin to the German Schwan, Dutch zwaan and Swedish svan,
is derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing). swans 5 swans
Young swans are known as swanlings or as cygnets; the latter derives via Old
French cigne or cisne (diminutive suffix -et "little") from the Latin word
cygnus, a variant form of cycnus "swan", itself from the Greek κύκνος kýknos, a
word of the same meaning. swans 6 swans swans 7 swans swans 8 swans An adult
male is a cob, from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group); an adult female is
a pen. swans 9 swans
Description
A mute swan landing on water. Due to the size and weight of most swans, large
areas of open land or water are required to successfully take off and land.
Swans are the largest extant members of the waterfowl family Anatidae, and are
among the largest flying birds. The largest species, including the mute swan,
trumpeter swan, and whooper swan, can reach a length of over 1.5 m (59 in) and
weigh over 15 kg (33 lb). Their wingspans can be over 3.1 m (10 ft). swans 10
swans Compared to the closely related geese, they are much larger and have
proportionally larger feet and necks. swans 11 swans Adults also have a patch of
unfeathered skin between the eyes and bill. The sexes are alike in plumage, but
males are generally bigger and heavier than females. swans 9 swans
The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage but the Southern
Hemisphere species are mixed black and white. The Australian black swan (Cygnus
atratus) is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings;
the chicks of black swans are light grey. The South American black-necked swan
has a white body with a black neck. swans 12 swans
Swans' legs are normally a dark blackish grey colour, except for the two South
American species, which have pink legs. Bill colour varies: the four subarctic
species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow, and all the others are
patterned red and black. Although birds do not have teeth, swans have beaks with
serrated edges that look like small jagged 'teeth' as part of their beaks used
for catching and eating aquatic plants and algae, but also molluscs, small fish,
frogs and worms. swans 13 swans The mute swan and black-necked swan have lumps
at the base of their bills on the upper mandible. swans 14 swans
Distribution and movements
See also: List of Anseriformes by population
Whooper swans migrate from Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Northern Russia
to Europe, Central Asia, China, and Japan
Swans are generally found in temperate environments, rarely occurring in the
tropics. A group of swans is called a bevy or a wedge in flight. Four (or five)
species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, one species is found in Australia, one
extinct species was found in New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, and one
species is distributed in southern South America. They are absent from tropical
Asia, Central America, northern South America and the entirety of Africa. One
species, the mute swan, has been introduced to North America, Australia and New
Zealand. swans 11 swans
Several species are migratory, either wholly or partly so. The mute swan is a
partial migrant, being resident over areas of Western Europe but wholly
migratory in Eastern Europe and Asia. The whooper swan and tundra swan are
wholly migratory, and the trumpeter swans are almost entirely migratory. swans
11 swans There is some evidence that the black-necked swan is migratory over
part of its range, but detailed studies have not established whether these
movements are long or short range migration. swans 15 swans
Behaviour
Swans feed in water and on land. They are almost entirely herbivorous, although
they may eat small amounts of aquatic animals. In the water, food is obtained by
up-ending or dabbling, and their diet is composed of the roots, tubers, stems
and leaves of aquatic and submerged plants. swans 11 swans
Mute swan threatens a photographer in Toyako, Japan.
Mute swan and cygnets
Mute swan and nine cygnets
Black swan and cygnet
Although swans only reach sexual maturity between 4 and 7 years of age, they can
form socially monogamous pair bonds from as early as 20 months that last for
many years, swans 16 swans and in some cases these can last for life. swans 17
swans The lifespan of the mute swan is often over 10 years, and sometimes over
20, whereas the black-necked swan survives for less than a decade in captivity.
swans 18 swans These bonds are maintained year-round, even in gregarious and
migratory species like the tundra swan, which congregate in large flocks in the
wintering grounds. swans 19 swans Their nest is on the ground near water and
about a metre across. Unlike many other ducks and geese, the male helps with the
nest construction, and also take turns incubating the eggs, swans 20 swans and
alongside the whistling ducks are the only anatids that will do this. Average
egg size (for the mute swan) is 113×74 mm, weighing 340 g, in a clutch size of 4
to 7, and an incubation period of 34–45 days. swans 21 swans Swans are highly
protective of their nests. They will viciously attack anything that they
perceive as a threat to their chicks, including humans. One man was suspected to
have drowned in such an attack. swans 22 swans swans 23 swans
Systematics and evolution
Black-necked swan at WWT London Wetland Centre
Black swan in Teresópolis, Brazil
Evidence suggests that the genus Cygnus evolved in Europe or western Eurasia
during the Miocene, spreading all over the Northern Hemisphere until the
Pliocene. When the southern species branched off is not known. The mute swan
apparently is closest to the Southern Hemisphere Cygnus (del Hoyo et al., eds,
Handbook of the Birds of the World); its habits of carrying the neck curved (not
straight) and the wings fluffed (not flush) as well as its bill color and knob
indicate that its closest living relative is the black swan. Given the
biogeography and appearance of the subgenus Olor it seems likely that these are
of a more recent origin, as evidence shows by their modern ranges (which were
mostly uninhabitable during the last ice age) and great similarity between the
taxa. swans 24 swans
Phylogeny
Based on the Taxonomy in Flux from John Boyd's website. swans 25 swans
Cygnina
Sthenelides melancoryphus (Black-necked swan)
Cygnus
(Chenopis)
C. atratus (Latham, 1790) (Black swan)
(Olor)
C. olor (Gmelin, 1789) (Mute swan)
(Cygnus)
C. buccinator Richardson, 1832 (Trumpeter swan)
C. cygnus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Whooper swan)
C. columbianus (Ord, 1815) (Tundra swan)
Species
Genus Cygnus
Subgenus Olor
Mute swan, Cygnus olor, is a Eurasian species that occurs at lower latitudes
than whooper swan and Bewick's swan across Europe into southern Russia, China
and the Russian Maritimes. Recent fossil records, according to the British
Ornithological Union, show Cygnus olor is among the oldest bird species still
extant and it has been upgraded to "native" status in several European
countries, since this bird has been found in fossil and bog specimens dating
back thousands of years. Common temperate Eurasian species, often
semi-domesticated descendants of domestic flocks, are naturalized in the United
States and elsewhere.
Subgenus Chenopis
Black swan, Cygnus atratus of Australia, and introduced in New Zealand
†New Zealand swan, Cygnus sumnerensis, an extinct species of swan from New
Zealand and the Chatham Islands
Subgenus Sthenelides
Black-necked swan, Cygnus melancoryphus of South America
Subgenus Cygnus
Whooper swan, Cygnus cygnus breeds in Iceland and subarctic Europe and Asia,
migrating to temperate Europe and Asia in winter
Trumpeter swan, Cygnus buccinator is the largest North American swan. Very
similar to the whooper swan (and sometimes treated as a subspecies of it), it
was hunted almost to extinction but has since recovered
Tundra swan, Cygnus columbianus is a small swan that breeds on the North
American tundra, further north than the trumpeter swan. It winters in the USA.
Bewick's swan, Cygnus (columbianus) bewickii is the Eurasian form that migrates
from Arctic Russia to western Europe and eastern Asia (China, Korea, Japan) in
winter. It is often considered a subspecies of C. columbianus, creating the
species tundra swan.
Whistling swan, Cygnus (columbianus) columbianus may be used to refer
specifically to the North American form.
An adult trumpeter swan in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
The fossil record of the genus Cygnus is quite impressive, although allocation
to the subgenera is often tentative; as indicated above, at least the early
forms probably belong to the C. olor – Southern Hemisphere lineage, whereas the
Pleistocene taxa from North America would be placed in Olor. A number of
prehistoric species have been described, mostly from the Northern Hemisphere.
Among them was the giant Siculo-Maltese C. falconeri, which was taller (though
not heavier) than the contemporary local dwarf elephants (Elephas falconeri).
Fossil record
†Cygnus csakvarensis Lambrecht 1933 swans Cygnus csákvárensis Lambrecht 1931a
nomen nudum; Cygnanser csakvarensis (Lambrecht 1933) Kretzoi 1957; Olor
csakvarensis (Lambrecht 1933) Mlíkovský 1992b swans (Late Miocene of Hungary)
†Cygnus mariae Bickart 1990 (Early Pliocene of Wickieup, USA)
†Cygnus verae Boev 2000 (Early Pliocene of Sofia, Bulgaria) swans 26 swans
†Cygnus liskunae (Kuročkin 1976) swans Anser liskunae Kuročkin 1976 swans
(Middle Pliocene of W Mongolia)
†Cygnus hibbardi Brodkorb 1958 (?Early Pleistocene of Idaho, USA)
†Cygnus sp. (Early Pleistocene of Dursunlu, Turkey: Louchart et al. 1998)
†Giant swan, Cygnus falconeri Parker 1865 sensu Livezey 1997a swans Cygnus
melitensis Falconer 1868; Palaeocygnus falconeri (Parker 1865) Oberholser 1908
swans (Middle Pleistocene of Malta and Sicily, Mediterranean)
†Cygnus paloregonus Cope 1878 swans Anser condoni Schufeldt 1892; Cygnus
matthewi Schufeldt 1913 swans (Middle Pleistocene of WC USA)
†Dwarf swan Cygnus equitum Bate 1916 sensu Livezey 1997 swans Anser equitum
(Bate 1916) Brodkorb 1964; Cygnus (Olor) equitum Bate 1916 sensu Northcote 1988a
swans (Middle – Late Pleistocene of Malta and Sicily, Mediterranean)
†Cygnus lacustris (De Vis 1905) swans Archaeocygnus lacustris De Vis 1905 swans
(Late Pleistocene of Lake Eyre region, Australia)
†Cygnus sp. (Pleistocene of Australia) swans citation needed swans swans
verification needed swans
†Cygnus atavus (Fraas 1870) Mlíkovský 1992 swans Anas atava Fraas 1870; Anas
cygniformis Fraas 1870; Palaelodus steinheimensis Fraas 1870; Anser atavus (Fraas
1870) Lambrecht 1933; Anser cygniformis (Fraas 1870) Lambrecht 1933 swans
The supposed fossil swans "Cygnus" bilinicus and "Cygnus" herrenthalsi were,
respectively, a stork and some large bird of unknown affinity (due to the bad
state of preservation of the referred material). Anser atavus is sometimes
placed in Cygnus. swans citation needed swans
The coscoroba swan (Coscoroba coscoroba) from South America, the only species of
its genus, is apparently not a true swan. Its phylogenetic position is not fully
resolved; it is in some aspects more similar to geese and shelducks. swans 27
swans
In culture
See also: Black swan emblems and popular culture, Black swan (disambiguation),
The Swan of Tuonela, and Swan upping
Many of the cultural aspects refer to the mute swan of Europe. Perhaps the best
known story about a swan is "The Ugly Duckling" fable. Swans are often a symbol
of love or fidelity because of their long-lasting, apparently monogamous
relationships. See the famous swan-related operas Lohengrin swans 28 swans and
Parsifal. swans 29 swans Swan meat was regarded as a luxury food in England in
the reign of Elizabeth I. A recipe for baked swan survives from that time: "To
bake a Swan Scald it and take out the bones, and parboil it, then season it very
well with Pepper, Salt and Ginger, then lard it, and put it in a deep Coffin of
Rye Paste with store of Butter, close it and bake it very well, and when it is
baked, fill up the Vent-hole with melted Butter, and so keep it; serve it in as
you do the Beef-Pie." swans 30 swans
A swan depicted on an Irish commemorative coin in celebration of its EU
presidency
"Łabędź" (Polish for "Swan") is a Polish–Lithuanian coat of arms which was used
by many Polish szlachta and Lithuanian Bajorai (noble) families under the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The variant here given is the coat-of-arms of
writer Henryk Sienkiewicz's family.
Swans feature strongly in mythology. In Greek mythology, the story of Leda and
the Swan recounts that Helen of Troy was conceived in a union of Zeus disguised
as a swan and Leda, Queen of Sparta. swans 31 swans Other references in
classical literature include the belief that upon death the otherwise-silent
mute swan would sing beautifully—hence the phrase swan song; swans 32 swans as
well as Juvenal's sarcastic reference to a good woman being a "rare bird, as
rare on earth as a black swan", from which we get the Latin phrase rara avis,
rare bird. swans 33 swans The mute swan is also one of the sacred birds of
Apollo, whose associations stem both from the nature of the bird as a symbol of
light as well as the notion of a "swan song". The god is often depicted riding a
chariot pulled by or composed of swans in his ascension from Delos.
The Irish legend of the Children of Lir is about a stepmother transforming her
children into swans for 900 years. swans 34 swans In the legend The Wooing of
Etain, the king of the Sidhe (subterranean-dwelling, supernatural beings)
transforms himself and the most beautiful woman in Ireland, Etain, into swans to
escape from the king of Ireland and Ireland's armies. The swan has recently been
depicted on an Irish commemorative coin.
Swans are also present in Irish literature in the poetry of W.B. Yeats. "The
Wild Swans at Coole" has a heavy focus on the mesmerising characteristics of the
swan. Yeats also recounts the myth of Leda and the Swan in the poem of the same
name.
In Norse mythology, there are two swans that drink from the sacred Well of Urd
in the realm of Asgard, home of the gods. According to the Prose Edda, the water
of this well is so pure and holy that all things that touch it turn white,
including this original pair of swans and all others descended from them. The
poem Volundarkvida, or the Lay of Volund, part of the Poetic Edda, also features
swan maidens.
In the Finnish epic Kalevala, a swan lives in the Tuoni river located in Tuonela,
the underworld realm of the dead. According to the story, whoever killed a swan
would perish as well. Jean Sibelius composed the Lemminkäinen Suite based on
Kalevala, with the second piece entitled Swan of Tuonela (Tuonelan joutsen).
Today, five flying swans are the symbol of the Nordic Countries, the whooper
swan (Cygnus cygnus) is the national bird of Finland, swans 35 swans and the
mute swan is the national bird of Denmark. swans 36 swans
French satirist François Rabelais wrote in Gargantua and Pantagruel that a
swan's neck was the best toilet paper he had encountered.
St Hugh of Lincoln with swan
A swan is one of the attributes of St Hugh of Lincoln based on the story of a
swan who was devoted to him. swans 37 swans
In Latin American literature, the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío (1867–1916)
consecrated the swan as a symbol of artistic inspiration by drawing attention to
the constancy of swan imagery in Western culture, beginning with the rape of
Leda and ending with Wagner's Lohengrin. Darío's most famous poem in this regard
is Blasón – "Coat of Arms" (1896), and his use of the swan made it a symbol for
the Modernismo poetic movement that dominated Spanish language poetry from the
1880s until the First World War. Such was the dominance of Modernismo in Spanish
language poetry that the Mexican poet Enrique González Martínez attempted to
announce the end of Modernismo with a sonnet provocatively entitled, Tuércele el
cuello al cisne – "Wring the Swan's Neck" (1910).
Swans are revered in Hinduism, and are compared to saintly persons whose chief
characteristic is to be in the world without getting attached to it, just as a
swan's feather does not get wet although it is in water. The Sanskrit word for
swan is hamsa and the "Raja Hamsam" or the Royal Swan is the vehicle of Goddess
Saraswati which symbolises the "Sattva Guna" or purity par excellence. The swan
if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to drink the milk
alone. Therefore, Goddess Saraswati the goddess of knowledge is seen riding the
swan because the swan thus symbolizes "Viveka" i.e. prudence and discrimination
between the good and the bad or between the eternal and the transient. This is
taken as a great quality, as shown by this Sanskrit verse:
Hamsah shwetah, bakah shwetah, kah bhedah hamsa bakayo?
Neeraksheera viveketu, Hamsah hamsah, bakah bakah!
The swan is white, the crane is white, so how to differentiate between them?
With the milk-water test, the swan is proven swan, the crane is proven crane!
It is mentioned several times in the Vedic literature, and persons who have
attained great spiritual capabilities are sometimes called Paramahamsa ("Supreme
Swan") on account of their spiritual grace and ability to travel between various
spiritual worlds. In the Vedas, swans are said to reside in the summer on Lake
Manasarovar and migrate to Indian lakes for the winter. They're believed to
possess some powers such as the ability to eat pearls.
Swans are intimately associated with the divine twins in Indo-European
religions, and it is thought that in Proto-Indo-European times, swans were a
solar symbol associated with the divine twins and the original Indo-European sun
goddess. swans 38 swans
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