A Vocal Mute Swan

And a quiet one also arching its wing feathers

A mute swan — Credit: Author

Introduction

A vocal mute swan sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Mute swans are a type of swan named as such precisely because they aren’t particularly vocal. So, when I came across one at the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park that was surprisingly noisy, I couldn’t help but notice.

They do make a sound when they want to, though. It’s just that they’re less vocal than other types of swans.

The one aspect of all these swans that I love is the way some of them hold their wings in a heart shape. Not all of them seem to do that, but the one in the main picture was posing just perfectly for me with its wing feathers.

Or was he?

The mute swan

The mute swan is our largest swan in the UK and the second largest waterfowl in the world. It’s also our only swan with an orange bill.

They preen themselves constantly to keep their feathers waterproof and ready to fly. Apparently, if they do it around people, that indicates that they feel safe enough to let their guard down.

But what about our swan in the main picture? He was gliding silently back and forth at the water’s edge as I walked beside him. I’ve seen this arching of their wings over their back to form a heart shape elsewhere. To a human, it makes the swan look more attractive. Well, at least to me it did.

However, I’ve since discovered this behaviour is termed ‘busking’ and it’s done by an adult male swan. It’s their display of dominance, usually when they’re defending their territory or their family. I suspect this one was in defending-his-territory mode.

It’s just as well I didn’t try to get friendly with it! I do know they can have a nasty bite, so I wasn’t going to go anywhere close enough to risk that.

He was definitely keeping a close eye on me. Just look at him staring right at me below:

A busking swan keeping a close eye on me — Credit: Author

In the picture below taken on the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park, there are a couple of swans looking like they’re about to have a showdown with those wings arched high over their backs!

Busking swans being territorial— Credit: Author

Noisy swan

Unlike all the others, there was one mute swan on the Serpentine being quite noisy. He’s also got his wing feathers arched, so I guess he’s giving a more-than-clear signal to the other swans around him to stay at a distance.

Funnily enough, the other swans didn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest and just carried on preening themselves. Obviously, they didn’t feel threatened either by the vocal busking swan or by us humans.

[embed]Credit: Author

Finally…

Sometimes, it’s important to understand the body language of an animal. I, for one, never realised that this beautiful pose of swans was a warning signal displaying territorial dominance.

You may know that busking also refers to an activity we humans do playing music on the street, and sometimes singing too, usually for some money. So, when I discovered this behaviour of primarily mute swans with their wings arched being termed busking, it made me chuckle.

I guess it makes them look bigger and more fearsome, at least to other swans. I still think they look beautiful with their pure white, wing feathers arched high like sails held in a heart shape.

How do you see busking swans?

Thank you for reading and watching

People, who’ve asked to be tagged: Aidan Lu Skerdoo