Mute swans. Observing, admiring, learning

By observing nature and its creations, a person can learn a great deal. Swans are known for their conjugal fidelity and their inconceivable devotion.

Poets and musicians are captivated by stories of swan love and family life, dedicating their works to these waterfowl.

Mute swans. Komyshuvakha, Donetsk region.

The swan is one of the few representatives of the fauna that, having lost its partner, long grieves for its mate. The image created by artists of two noble birds with necks curved into the shape of a heart symbolises romantic feelings and eternal love.

Mute swans on the Byk river. Kamianka, Dobropillia district, Donetsk region.

It is hard to imagine, but the fact remains a fact: in tsarist times the meat of this bird, capable of experiencing lofty feelings, was served at banquets. In the 1960s the hunting of swans was banned, and the birds beloved by all gradually settled in the wild and on small park bodies of water.

People feed their favourites, give them names, protect them and admiringly delight in the feathered couples and their offspring.

The colouring of swans is predominantly white; the plumage numbers more than 20 thousand feathers and down.

The mute swan nests and winters in the reed thickets in the floodplains of rivers and ponds. These beauties feed on small fish, shellfish, worms, insects and parts of aquatic and marsh plants, and will not refuse meadow grasses, maize, cereals and fodder plants.

Adult individuals weigh up to 13 kilograms and have a wingspan of more than 2 metres. These are the largest waterfowl in the expanses of Ukraine that are able to fly.

For a comfortable and beautiful nesting site with a sufficient amount of food there is competition among the swans, and a stranger they may drive off, curving the neck back, spreading the wings and hissing at the unwelcome guest.

They were nicknamed "shypuny" (hissers) for the peculiar sound they make when threatened, defending themselves and their family. In the media there are publications about the aggression shown by mute swans during the nesting period and the appearance of offspring.

The couple builds the nest together: the male finds and brings stems of reed or other plants, and the female lays out the little nest, binding the building material with silt. The 5-9 little ones, which appear after 34-38 days of incubation, the parents care for and teach the wisdoms of swan life right up until the wintering. From the first moment of their appearance in the world, the newborns are ready to explore it and to plunge into the watery element together with the adults.

The mute swan is not considered a rare bird and it has not been entered on the list of the Red Book of Ukraine, but this does not mean that these beauties are not under protection. They should be protected as much as possible, not frightened, and fed in winter.