Mute+Swan+-+bri

**__General Information__**   
 *  (Cygnus olor) (5)
 * Describe the species:
 * The mute swan is white. Both sexes look alike, but males tend to be larger. They are distinguished by the knob base of the upper bill, and the orange color the bill has with a black tip. (5)
 * It is 144 to 158 centimeters big. They have a wingspan of 2 to 2.5 meters. They could be 35-40 pounds. (1)

**__Detailed Description__**
 * The oldest recorded wild mute swan was 19 years old. In captivity, they can live 30-40 years. (5)
 * They breed in ponds and rivers in urban and disturbed places. (3)
 * They usually eat aquatic vegetation and small insects, fish, and frogs. They plunge their heads into the water to catch their food instead of diving. Unlike ducks, they hunt in deeper waters. (3)
 * This organism is so successful because they are bigger than most competors. They get violent when people or animals approach their nest. (5)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">They out compete native species because in an eating frenzy, they can eat up to eight pounds of aquatic vegetation. Therefore, leaving native species who also eat aquatic vegetation with no food. Since they eat so much at one time, they do not give the plants enough time to grow and reproduce. They also inhabit other organisms nest, and make them their own. Leaving that species with no home. (5) They are also dangerous for the native grass beds. They eat the crabs and fish that are important to certain water bodies. (3)

<span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">__**Habitat and Distribution**__ <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">They usually live in the wild. In the winter they like to live on marine waters. They like marshes and swamps. They can set up territory that are 4 10 acres, which could happen to be a whole lake. (5)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">They spread in the Midwestern States. (5)
 * __Impacts__**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Postive impacts are not made in the North America. They were used for food in Britian and their feathers were used for quills. (5)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Negative impacts are that they are known for attacks on people when they get too close to their nest. They have knocked boaters and jet skiers into the water, and attacked adults and children. (5)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Mute swans do mate with native species, but enviromentalist try and control hybridization. (1)

<span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">**__History__**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">This organism originally came from Eurasia and was introduced to North America and became one of our most common swans.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">This invasive species was one of five birds to escape from captivity in 1962.

<span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">**__Control Measures__**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Yes, we actively try to eliminate or reduce these species. (6)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Preventing eggs from hatching, live capture, and removal of adult swans are ways people eliminate them. (6)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">There aren't cost associated with the elimination of mute swans. The prevention uses no equiptment that would be costly. (6)

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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">__**Sources**__ 1. Ciaranca, M. A., C. C. Allin, and G. S. Jones. 1997. Mute Swan (//Cygnus olor//). //In// [|The Birds of North America], No. 273 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">2. Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons (eds.) 1977. //The Birds of the Western Palearctic//. Vol. I. Oxford University Press, Oxford. <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> 3. Freedman, Bill. "Swans." //Gale Encyclopedia of Science//. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale Group, 2008. //Student// //Resource// //Center// //- Gold//. Gale. Stroudsburg High School. 12 Nov. 2008 __ http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=SRC1&docId=EJ2644042249&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=stro53037&version=1.0 __. <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">4. Ivory, A. 2002. "Cygnus olor" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed November 13, 2008 at <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cygnus_olor.html <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> 5. Kaplan, Thomas. "The Noble, Gentle Swan Is Anything But, to Some.(Metropolitan Desk)." //The New York Times.// 157. 54172 (Dec 28, 2007): B5(L). //Student// //Resource// //Center// //- Gold//. Gale. Stroudsburg High School. 12 Nov. 2008 http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=SRC-1&docId=A172823219&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=stro53037&version=1.0 <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">6. __Mute Swans__. 1 December 2008. <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/muteswans.html <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">.