Hey you Audubon types

[pavel]

Got a couple of swan questions for ya.

Took this pic of a swan family that decided to visit for a day at the fake pond behind my building.



Out of curiosity, is it normal for some of the signets to be pretty much fledged out in their whites while their sibs are still completely in the grays?

Also the one adult that has its wings raised, is this a prelude to a threat display, or dominance thing , or ......?

[Diane]

Very nice family shot! As to your questions, not all the eggs in a clutch hatch at the same time, and not all the young progress at the same rate. The early hatchers get more food and attention to start because there are only a couple of babies to take care of. The ones that hatch later have to compete for the food and are "behind the curve" in the amount of nutrition they get. (although the parents are very good about feeding all the babies).

The wing fluffing bird is the male. He could be doing a couple of things, it depends on how close you were, if he held the wings that way, etc. If you were close to them, and he held that pose for more than a couple of seconds, then he was fluffing up to look threatening. He could also have been stretching or re-aligning his feathers if he did not stay in that position for more than a few seconds.

[Tmai]

Nice pic, pavel. Glad someone speaks Swan-ese. I thought that the male swan was telling his older kid to stop playing in the lily pads and help mom with the youngsters!

[Piper]

I was thinking he was preening, but Diane and Gin are the bird brains. I will defer to their expertise.

Julie

[Molly Taco]

Great shot Pavel. It is definitely a threat pose by the male, see how the female is keeping a wary eye on you. He wants to look big and bad.
Cin

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Nice shot there Pavel. to Cin's response. I don't know about swans, but my macaw, Murphy, fluffs up to look bigger whenever I have company over and he is out and about.

Cheers!

BD

[pavel]

Not sure how close I was Diane -- I'm horrible at estimating distances. I'd guess about 20 yards? He did hold the pose for a minute or two so threat display it is.

Here's a zoom on the male.


They were still there today. He seemed to be doing a nice job of keeping the canadian geese out of the pond. Good Boy!

[Diane]

Great shot! Yes, he was warning you. Swans are VERY territorial and it's not surprising the Canada Geese are giving them a wide berth. Swans will attack like geese sometimes, so best to stay away, besides they need 'their space'. nice to see they produced so many healthy signets!

[Piper]

There was a pond in the town I grew up in, beside a road, and every spring when the cygnets were leaving the nest, the daddy swan would run around in the road trying to attack any cars that drove by.

Julie

[Gin]

Beautiful picture , Wonder if he could teach my 2 duck hens some manners .. they are trying to sit ... mean old bags . Gin