Cool Facts!!
--The regal beauty of Mute Swans is one of the reasons why the swan is considered a royal bird in England.
--Swans are the largest known flying bird!
--Young swans, called cygnets, come in two different colors:
A gray form and a white form. The white or "Polish" chicks
have all white down and juvenal feathers. The gray or
"Royal" chicks start off with gray down and grown in gray and
white feathers giving them a molted look.
--The Mute Swan mates for life. However, there are some exceptions to this statement. Changing of mates does occur extremely infrequently. Swans will remate if a partner dies. When a female loses her mate, she remates as quickly as possible and usually chooses a younger mate!
--Differences between the male and female sex are hardly ever obvious. The only time it becomes noticeable is during the breeding season when the black knob at the base of the male Mute Swan's bill swells and becomes much larger than the female's.
--The adult male is referred to as a cob. He is the only known bird to have a penis. The adult female is referred to as a pen.
--The Mute Swan is hardly "mute" at all. It is perhaps the noisiest of all swans, having eight different sounds in its repertoire.
--Swans can fly as fast as 60 miles per hour and have a wing span of up to 10 feet. They weight about 25-35 pounds and stand approximately 4 feet tall.
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