Mute+Swan-+Nicole+Liguori

=General Information=

Scientific Name:
The scientific name of the Mute Swan is //Cygnus olor//. Swans belong to the Anatidae family that consists of duck and geese. In Latin, both words //cygnus// and //olor// mean "swan". The name was produced by a German man named Johann Friedrich Gmelin in the late 1700's. He was a naturalist who was among the first to describe the animal(3).

Species Description:
Mute swans are among the most beautiful of all birds. Fully grown and mature swans have white feathers and orange-yellow bills. Male swans weigh on average 27 pounds and females about 19 pounds. It is one of the largest of all the flying birds. They can grow to stand about 4 feet tall. Mute Swans have been known as a sign of elegance, purity, and monogamy. The mute swan got its name for its silence except for when it is threatened it hisses(3).

=Detailed Description:=

Life Cycle:
Baby swans are known as cygnets. They are born a greyish color with a black beak. They will all turn white at maturity and they will not get their orange bill until they reach the age of one. In the story of The Ugly Duckling, a baby cygnet is picked on for being "ugly" but later grows to become a swan known to be the most beautiful of all birds(3). Male swans are not paired for life but are known to have one partner each season. Breeding begins in the spring months of March and April. Their eggs are in clutches of 5-7 and are a grey, pale-blue color. Hatching takes about 37 days where the female spends most of the time sitting while the male stands guard. Swans are very protective of their nests and have been known to attack waterfowl and humans if they feel threatened. Once they are hatched, the male usually takes the first of the babies to the water. It takes these chicks about 60 days to learn how to fly and about 12 months before they are ready to live on their own. Swans are ready for sexual reproduction at the age of three(2).The oldest swan ever recorded in the wild was 19 years old. In captivity, swans have been known to live as long as 20 to 30 years(2).

Diet, etc:
Herbivore. Mute swans feed on aquatic vegetation and small insects that are found around their habitat. They eat worms, mollusks, insects, leaves, algae, and roots and tubers. They feed in deeper water areas so they do not compete with animals such as ducks who bob their heads below the water. Swans long necks allow them to feed deeper and thus what they eat, sometimes pieces float to the top providing smaller and similar animals with food(2).

Why is this organism so successful?
Mute swans only compete for food with other swans so other species that live in symbiosis with them do not mind. They do not have many predators. Their only predators are racoon and mink when they try to eat the swans babies. Otherwise, mute swans heavily protect their nest and are aggresive to other species if they come near their nest. Their reproduction is successful because it doesn't take long for the eggs to hatch and are mature in a year or two. The parent birds are bigger and more aggressive than their surrounding species so this makes swans ultimatly successful in their habitat. Their food is not hard to find and is made readily to them(2).

=Habitat and Distribution=

Habitat:
Mute swans are the most common bird that can be found in the wild. They can live in freshwater, saltwater or marine, and temperate water. They can live in bays, open marshes, lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, and coastal regions(2). They live in these areas because this is where they find their food supply(2).

Distribution:
Mute swans are native to northern and central Eurasia. They have been known to travel to areas of Asia and Russia and as far as northern Africa. These swans do migrate so they have been found in areas all over the world. They were brought to Northern America to grace ponds and other areas such as parks and estates. There are around 16,000 mute swans that can be found in the United States and Canada. They are common around the Great Lakes and other wetlands in that area. They are most commonly found in the United Kingdom. In Ireland alone 10,000 pairs can be found(2).

=Impacts=

Ecological Impact:
Mute swans consume most of the aquatic vegetation around them. They do not serve any positive effects on the ecosystem other than that they contribute to the beautiful surroundings. However, the Chesapeake Bay has found these birds to be quite a problem. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has acclaimed that these birds are aggressive and because of their high population, they eat around 8 million pounds of aquatic vegetation and grasses which hurts the ecosystem and the habitat of other organisms. Other studies show that these birds only eat what is 10% of the total biomass in their habitat(4).

Human Impact:
Humans and Mute swans cannot interact directly. Mute swans are highly protective and can become aggressive if they are threatened. They do not harm humans, although there have been a few attacks. They can harm little children and may threaten other organisms in their area(2). Humans can hunt these birds despite recent moves to protect the species. They are not being pushed to extinction but rather can be used for food and other fine materials. This birds feathers make quills for writing, as well as its skin for purses and even its wing bones can be used to make into whistles. This bird was saved from extintion when it was domesticated over in Europe(2).

=History=

Where did this organism come from?
The Mute swan orginally came from different areas of Europe and Asia. They are very common in England where these birds are used as a symbol of purity and elegance and the Queen herself owns the rights to the birds. These highly adaptive birds can live in harsh conditions and have even been found in parts of Alaska. This bird can be found in as many as seventy different countries around the world(3).

How did the species get here?
Mute Swans were able to migrate to many of the places that they currently inhabit but some were broght over seas by means in the earlier centuries(3). Many were placed in the Great Lakes, ponds, and parks around the country(3).

Where was the first incidence of the species?
This species has been known for centries. Fossils have been found dating back 6,000 years ago(3).

What were the environmental conditions there?
These birds are able to adapt and live in harsh conditions. There main place of habitat is in the British Isles which is where they reproduce and migrate. Depending on the time of year the conditions range to hot, cold, wet and dry. There is a lot of water here which makes this habitat perfect for mute swans(3).

=Control Measures=

Do we actively try to climinate these species?
As long as these birds have been in our country, people have been able to hunt them. More recently though, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service pulled all licenses to kill mute swans across the nation. It has been ruled as unhumane to kill these beautiful creatures(4). These birds are currently being protected under the Migoraory Bird Treaty Act(1).

Explain how.
Back in 2002, state natural resource workers were going to the nests of the mute swans and spraying the eggs with an oil chemical in which would kill the embryos(1).

Costs involved.
Some say that these birds are consuming all the food in which many of the "garbage birds" around the Chesapeake Bay feed on. States such as Maryland have been put on conservation status and are no longer allowed to hunt the Mute swan. This is not very costly but most of the cost is the aggravation and heartbreak it causes the people of Chesapeake whom fell in love with these birds(1).

=Works Cited= 1. Clines, Francis X. "A passionate debate over prolific swans.(some say swans threaten Chesapeake Bay)." //The New York Times.// 151. 52095 (April 21, 2002): 20(N) p18(L). //Student Resource Center - Gold//. Gale. Stroudsburg High School. 12 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do.

2. Ivory, A. 2002. "Cygnus olor" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed November 13, 2008 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cygnus_olor.html.

3. "Mute Swan". __Wikipedia__. 10 Nov. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mute_swan.

4. "No swansong in the Chesapeake Bay.(Spectrum)(mute swan killing stopped)." //Environment.// 45. 10 (Dec 2003): 7(1). //Student Resource Center - Gold//. Gale. Stroudsburg High School. 12 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do