Happy Swans and a Brawl

Tis the season for the pairing up of the various species of swans.

Many like the Tundra Swan have a long trip back to the arctic. The Trumpeter Swans head to Alaska traveling in pairs within the flock. Mating behaviors are abundant in the lakes and ponds right now. There is no doubt the swans are in a mating mood. Don’t they look happy?

Interesting fact, in recent years though, the distribution of Trumpeter Swan has been different with a successful reintroduction program establishing a breeding population in the Great Lakes region. This brings them to near where I am located.

We have both Trumpeter Swans and Mute swans this post. You may have seen the Tundra Swan in a previous post on GWGT. The Trumpeter and Tundra Swans are hard to tell apart, except to an accomplished birder. I had a knowledgeable birder identify these for me. The head and bill of each are a bit different from one another. The Mute Swans are easy to differentiate with that orange beak.

All swans are in a big hurry to get somewhere private lately. They do keep an eye on me.

Romancing is going on.

And a lot of quarrels too.

And biting. This behavior happens even between male and female. But a couple of males can go at it too. Brawl below.

Yet there is always the ones that don’t get involved and stay in a good mood. Kinda like us in that way.

Happy, happy swans.