What’s This Post About?
The flamboyant, long-necked birds develop romantic relationships with their partners, an epitome of grace, elegance, and purity. Well known for their devotion and love fling, swans are among the Kingdom’s largest and heaviest flying birds. But, more so, they can do this with incredible speed and agility.
Belonging to the Antidae family, with geese and ducks being one of their closest relatives, the waterfowl swans are easily recognizable due to their distinct features and coiled honks.
Swans live for an average of 20-30 years, with variations based on habitat and species. The mute swan can live for 18-20 years, Black swan for 40 years, while the trumpeter swan can live 24 years in the wild and longer in captivity. If a swan stays alive for the first 3 years, it has higher chance of survival.
How Long Do Swans Live?
Swans are among the long-living birds enjoying a high rate of life expectancy. On average, swans are known to live for an average of 20-30 years.
However, like most birds, swans living in captivity tend to outlive those that live in the wild. These live in a much secure environment as compared to their feral cousins, who are at greater risk of being hunted by humans and becoming a delightful meal for their ravenous predators.
Apart from the environmental factors, variations in the lifespans of the swans also exist due to differences among species.
Where Do Swans Live?
Typically found in the wild, these graceful waterfowl birds usually dwell in and near the water bodies. The lakes, ponds, riverine wetlands, and even the marshes and prairies might give you a great sight of these long-necked, majestic birds.
Scattered in the urban sites, bedizening the ponds and lakes in cities as well as regions of shallow wetlands, estuaries, and lakes, they largely feed on abundant aquatic plants, including pondweed, sedges, duckweed, and algae. Occasionally, they would also feed on small fish and eggs.
The different species of swans can be found across an array of regions, from North America to New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.
How Long Do Different Species Of Swans Live?
Swans have been known to have around 6-8 different species, each of which demonstrates slight variations in their characteristics. In fact, the lifespan might also vary depending on the species.
Mute Swans
These are the swans that instantly come to mind when the word swan is uttered - the gorgeous, pure white plumaged birds with proportionally tall legs and beak and a small black mask surrounding the beak - indeed a serene beauty to look at.
Contrary to their name, these birds are not silent at all. However, they are just a little less boisterous than their fellow mates as their honks are less vocalized. The inaudible hissing aggravates in volume during times when the bird is angry or feels threatened.
These swans tend to have a lifespan of around 18-20 years in the wild, while in captivity, they can live for as long as 30-40 years.
Black-necked Swans
Having a conspicuously exotic appearance, these swans have remarkably bold black feathers on their necks while being covered in white plumage overall. In addition, the round red knobs on the top of their beaks in both the sexes make them easily identifiable.
In the wild, they can survive from 10 years to as long as 30 years, depending on the environmental factors. However, the domestic lifespan of these swans is relatively shorter, ranging from 8-20 years.
Tundra Swans
One of the most graceful-looking species, with elevated necks extending from their bodies, the Tundra swans can be easily distinguished. Having an entirely white plumage, they have a black bill with a visibly bright yellow spot at the base.
They are most likely to be found around with their long necks standing straight as they paddle through the lake or walk on the marshes and even as they take flight - making the neck awkwardly stretched out.
Relative to other swans, they have a shorter lifespan in the wild, around 10-20 years. However, the domesticated species of this swan can survive for as long as 25 years.
Trumpeter Swans
One of the largest waterfowl species, it is known to be one of the heaviest animals capable of flight. Having calls similar to that of a trumpet, the massive swan has an overall snowy white plumage with a patch of black on the skin connecting to the black bill. The beauty and elegance of this swan are no less than the other species.
Trumpeter swans in the wild can live up to 20 years or even more. In fact, there have been accounts of one trumpeter swan surviving for more than 35 years in the National Wildlife Refuge in Washington.
What Is The Typical Lifecycle Of Swans?
Once the male and female partners carry out an enticing courtship dance, they build a nest for themselves and form a life-long bond. The female swan - called pen - is ready to lay the eggs.
Incubation Stage
The clutch size of eggs varies with the swan species though a female swan lays around 4-9 eggs in one breeding season. Typically, the pen lays one egg every 12-24 hours until the entire clutch is complete, after which the incubation period begins. This is to ensure that all eggs hatch at about the same time.
The incubation period lasts for about 34 to 42 days before the eggs are ready to produce a cygnet.
Hatchlings
Once the eggs hatch, the cygnets live with their parents for around 6 to 10 months. The parents rear their young till the next spring before they are old enough and chased away by their parents.
Young Cygnets
The young cygnets can learn to fly by the age of 3-4 months, although it takes almost a year for these young swans to become adept at flight. Unfortunately, many early deaths of the cygnets are caused due to accidents in flight as a result of collisions with power lines, bridges, etc., due to their unfamiliarity with such man-made structures.
Juvenile Cygnets
The cygnets, now almost 10 months old, then join a flock of swans, with sibling groups and other swans of their age, staying here until they are about four to five years old.
Swans reach the age of sexual maturity at around 2-3 years. However, they choose to stay in this flock for longer before they find a partner for themselves and begin mating.
Adult Swans
Swans usually find a mate from within their flock. Widely known for their monogamous relationships, swans are incredibly loyal and devoted to their partners, forming lifelong bonds as they stay with the same mate for their entire lives.
DID YOU KNOW?
Not all swans are monogamous, though. Divorce might sometimes occur between them. Not all swans are as faithful as we think. Moreover, there can also be other reasons, such as infertility or the death of a partner.
What Is The Average Life Expectancy Of Young Swans?
Baby cygnets have a significantly high mortality rate, with a large number of swan deaths occurring in the initial three years.
In the beginning, the incubated eggs have moderate chances of survival. However, not all the eggs hatched would be able to produce healthy offspring.
The cygnets that survive might not be able to surpass the first three months of their lives. This preliminary stage of the bird’s lifecycle is crucial, of which more than 50% might not survive beyond 3 - 4 months of age due to high predation by eagles, coyotes, turtles, crows, heron, magpies, and mink, among the numerous other predators.
Of those that survive, another 25% might succumb to death before they reach the age of three. However, once they’re able to pass this mark, these swans can learn the potential and skills to survive for the many years to come.
What Are The Factors Affecting The Life Expectancy Of Swans?
Unlike many animals and birds, swans are not well adapted to domestication, which makes the bird chivy to deal with. Having said that, swans in captivity still manage to survive for a longer time than those in the wild due to the many unfavorable circumstances that cause hindrances in their survival.
Predatory Attacks
Out in the wild, the swans are exposed to predators, though few in number, that brutally attack and kill the swans. These include raccoons, snakes, hawks, foxes, minks, and wild hounds.
The cygnets and eggs of the swans are more vulnerable to predatory attacks than the adult birds. Wild dogs, eagles, bobcats, and coyotes relish swan and cygnet temptations whenever they get a chance. Some intrusive animals, such as the raccoons, would also steal eggs from the nest.
Hunting and Poaching
Even though the hunting of swans is illegal in certain states, costing you huge penalties, but they are no longer protected federally. This makes humans one of the biggest threats to the survival of swans.
At present, swans are rarely poached for their meat, but their splendid white feathers make them an essential allurement for humans.
Feeble Defense Mechanisms
Swans are vicious attackers that can break your arm with their wings or pierce their big-sized beaks into your skin, causing severe injury.
Well, actually, that’s not right.
Unlike the popular opinion that follows regarding the puissance of the swans, they have relatively weak defense mechanisms and a poor ability to combat attacks against them.
Environmental Hazards
During their early years, swans are unable to identify man-made structures around them, such as bridges and buildings, and in their vicious flight, might jolt against it. Unfortunately, this results in a large number of fatalities.
Other prevalent causes of death for the mature aviators include pollution, power line collisions and overhead cables, lead ammunition, lead poisoning from ingestion, and fishing tackle injuries.
However, if you ever want to feed the swans swimming in the nearby lakes or ponds, here are some seeds that you can feed them .
This feed formulated is ideal for water birds: duck, swan, and goose.
Do Swans Die Of A Broken Heart?
Yes, the mourning swans could die of a broken heart if the partner passes away.
Recent scientific research has revealed that the grieving swans whose partner has died or one that is unable to find a new mate for itself for a long time may die of a broken heart.
These incredibly faithful species commit their entire lives to one mate, and the death of the partner can have a desolate impact on them.g
Keep Reading!
The elegant, snowy white plumaged birds with their necks extending straight out add to the grace as the swans ruffle their feathers. Swans are known not only for their beauty but also for their lifespan longevity in the bird kingdom.
Having an average life expectancy of 20-30 years, swans are devoted mates for life. No doubt keeping a swan in captivity would instill feelings of fondness between the swan and the humans, though they are not too agile pets.
Here’s an interesting post to explore entailing details about whether swans are dangerous or not to learn more about swans.
Swans are perceived as delicate, beautiful creatures but do they have a scary side to them? Let's find out!
By
David A. Swanson
Bird Watching USA
My name is David and I'm the the founder of Bird Watching USA! I started Bird Watching with My father-in-law many years ago, and I've become an addict to watching these beautiful creatures. I've learnt so much over about bird watching over the years that I want to share with the world everything I know about them!
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