Families of mute swans in shallow shore waters
Photographed by Kaido Einama
Translation:SilverT
Family of swans in the shallows
Mute swan Kühmnokk-luik Cygnus olor
In north-western Estonia, cygnets have been in the sea for about ten days now and in about fifty days they will be able to fly.
Cygnets find their own food; adult birds guide the young ones to very low waters where the chicks can reach water plants in the bottom. It`s still a merry time when parents can be used for joyrides, but as they grow, they move further from the shore.
Mute swans move around in their „own“ territory and do not tolerate other members of species there. Intruder will face the master, a male bird, in a threatening pose with wings arched on the back, who starts to swim towards the intruder. Sometimes the one being repelled is not another mute swan, but also a boat or a „white ship“ sailing on the open sea... On the shore, mute swan will face a fox if necessary, who then retreats rather quickly – a swan can hit so hard with its bill and wings that it can even prove to be fatal for the small predator.
Mute swans nest for the first time when they are about three years old. As a fact, those flocks of swans that we see moving around on the sea consist mostly of young birds who are not nesting yet.
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