62 birdsandblooms.com
DID YOU KNOW?
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BY MOLLY JASINSKI
Learn about swans, the majestic birds famous for their love.
1877
Swan Lake, the first
ballet written by the
famous composer
Tchaikovsky, premiered
in 1877. Now beloved,
it was considered a
failure initially.
3
Only three species of
swans nest in North
America: the trumpeter,
the mute and the tundra
(sometimes known as
the whistling swan).
Trumpeter swans were
almost driven to extinction
during the early 1900s—
fewer than 100 were in
the Lower 48 at one point.
Dedicated conservation
work in recent decades has
brought their numbers back
up into the thousands.
A mute swan typically
has only one mate
in its lifetime. Pairs
usually don’t break up,
often only seeking a new
partner if there’s a death.
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R
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.
Mute swans were brought to North America
from Europe during the late 1800s and early
1900s. They were valued for the elegance
1900 they added to parks, ponds and lakes.
Mute swans have
a big appetite—one
study found that they
can eat up to 8 pounds
of food per day!
8
A mute swan
pair that is likely
mated for life.
Tr u m p e te r
swan