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Mute Swan

ID Info
Silhouette SwansSwans
Mute SwanCygnus olor
  • ORDER: Anseriformes
  • FAMILY: Anatidae

Basic Description

The exotic Mute Swan is the elegant bird of Russian ballets and European fairy tales. This swan swims with its long neck curved into an S and often holds its wings raised slightly above its back. Although they’re numerous and familiar in city parks and in bays and lakes in the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes, Northeast, and Midatlantic, Mute Swans are not native to North America. Their aggressive behavior and voracious appetites often disturb local ecosystems, displace native species, and even pose a hazard to humans.

More ID Info
image of range map for Mute Swan
Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding
Range map provided by Birds of the World
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Find This Bird

Mute Swans were first brought to North America to decorate ponds and lakes in towns and cities, and that’s still the best place to find these familiar waterfowl. You may also find them on shallow wetlands, lakes, rivers, and estuaries within the scattered range where they’ve become established in the wild.

Other Names

  • Cisne Vulgar (Spanish)
  • Cygne tuberculé (French)
  • Cool Facts