Mute Swan

The Mute Swan is one of the most familiar birds in Britain, with it’s all white plumage, long curved, S-shaped neck and reddish-orange bill that has a large black ‘knob’ at the base. They usually mate for life and is considered to be a romantic in the bird world, as the birds can form a perfect love heart with their necks.

They feed on submerged aquatic plants, particularly waterweed, insects and seeds and also by grazing on land.

They nest on large mounds that they build with vegetation from the edges of the water. They build them in shallow water and at the very edge of a lake. They often reuse the same nest each year, restoring or rebuilding it. Both males and females are involved in parenting. The cob (male) will guard the nest, while the pen (female) leaves to feed, but he won’t incubate the eggs.

The Mute Swan can be seen throughout towns and countryside, on canals, ponds, lakes and rivers across the whole of Britain, all year round.

Some birds stay in their territories all year. Others move short distances and form winter flocks and in really cold weather, some birds fly in from Europe and stay in eastern England.

The Mute Swan breeds across most of Britain, except in northern Scotland, mid-Wales and the moors of south-west England.