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Abert’s Towhee Acadian Flycatcher Acorn Woodpecker Alder Flycatcher Allen’s Hummingbird Altamira Oriole American Avocet American Bittern American Black Duck American Coot American Crow American Dipper American Golden-Plover American Goldfinch American Kestrel American Oystercatcher American Pipit American Redstart American Robin American Three-toed Woodpecker American Tree Sparrows American White Pelican American Wigeon American Woodcock Anhinga Anna’s Hummingbird Arctic Tern Arizona Woodpecker Ash-Throated Flycatcher Atlantic Puffin Audubon’s Oriole Bachman’s Sparrow Baird’s Sandpiper Baird’s Sparrow Bald Eagle Baltimore Oriole Band-tailed Pigeon Bank Swallow Barn Owl Barn Swallow Barred Owl Barrow’s Goldeneye Bay-breasted Warbler Bell’s Vireo Belted Kingfisher Bendire’s Thrasher Bewick’s Wren Black Guillemot Black Oystercatcher Black Phoebe Black Rail Black Rosy-Finch Black Scoter Black Skimmer Black Swift Black Tern Black Turnstone Black Vulture Black-and-white Warbler Black-backed 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Common Poorwill Common Raven Common Redpoll Common Tern Common Yellowthroat Connecticut Warbler Cooper’s Hawk Cordilleran Flycatcher Costa’s Hummingbird Couch’s Kingbird Crescent-chested Warbler Crested Caracara Crissal Thrasher Curve-billed Thrasher Dark-eyed Junco Dickcissel Double-crested Cormorant Dovekie Downy Woodpecker Dunlin Dusky Flycatcher Dusky Grouse Eared Grebe Eastern Bluebird Eastern Kingbird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Eastern Screech-Owl Eastern Towhee Eastern Whip-poor-will Eastern Wood-Pewee Elegant Tern Elf Owl Emperor Goose Eurasian Collared-Dove Eurasian Tree Sparrow Eurasian Wigeon European Starling Evening Grosbeak Ferruginous Hawk Field Sparrow Fish Crow Flammulated Owl Florida Scrub-Jay Forster’s Tern Fox Sparrow Franklin’s Gull Fulvous Whistling-Duck Gadwall Gambel’s Quail Gila Woodpecker Gilded Flicker Glaucous Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Glossy Ibis Golden Eagle Golden-cheeked Warbler Golden-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Warbler Golden-fronted Woodpecker Golden-winged Warbler Grace’s Warbler Grasshopper Sparrow Gray Catbird Gray Flycatcher Gray Kingbird Gray Partridge Gray Vireo Gray-cheeked Thrush Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Great Black-backed Gull Great Blue Heron Great Cormorant Great Crested Flycatcher Great Egret Great Gray Owl Great Horned Owl Great Kiskadee Great-tailed Grackle Greater Pewee Greater Prairie-Chicken Greater Roadrunner Greater Sage-Grouse Greater Scaup Greater White-fronted Goose Greater Yellowlegs Green Heron Green Jay Green-tailed-towhee Green-winged Teal Groove-billed Ani Gull-billed Tern Gunnison Sage-Grouse Gyrfalcon Hairy Woodpecker Hammond’s Flycatcher Harlequin Duck Harris’s Hawk Harris’s Sparrow Heermann’s Gull Henslow’s Sparrow Hepatic Tanager Hermit Thrush Hermit Warbler Herring Gull Hoary Redpoll Hooded Merganser Hooded Oriole Hooded Warbler Horned Grebe Horned Lark Horned Puffin House Finch House Sparrow House Wren Hudsonian Godwit Hutton’s Vireo Inca Dove Indigo Bunting Ivory-billed Woodpecker Juniper Titmouse Kentucky Warbler Killdeer King Eider King Rail Kirtland’s Warbler Ladder-backed Woodpecker Lapland Longspur Lark Bunting Lark Sparrow Laughing Gull Lawrence’s Goldfinch Lazuli Bunting Le Conte’s Sparrow Le Conte’s Thrasher Least Bittern Least Flycatcher Least Grebe Least Sandpiper Least Tern Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Goldfinch Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lesser Scaup Lesser Yellowlegs Lewis’s Woodpecker Limpkin Lincoln’s Sparrow Little Blue Heron Loggerhead Shrike Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Long-eared Owl Long-tailed Duck Louisiana Waterthrush Lucifer Hummingbird Lucy’s Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Magnificent Frigatebird Magnificent Hummingbird Magnolia Warbler Mallard Mangrove Cuckoo Marbled Godwit Marsh Wren Masked Duck McCown’s Longspur Merlin Mew Gull Mexican Jay Mississippi Kite Montezuma Quail Mottled Duck Mountain Bluebird Mountain Chickadee Mountain Plover Mountain Quail Mourning Dove Mourning Warbler Mute Swan Nashville Warbler Neotropic Cormorant Northern Bobwhite Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Fulmar Northern Gannet Northern Goshawk Northern Harrier Northern Hawk Owl Northern Mockingbird Northern Parula Northern Pintail Northern Rough-winged Swallow Northern Saw-whet Owl Northern Shoveler Northern Shrike Northern Waterthrush Northwestern Crow Nuttall’s Woodpecker Oak Titmouse Olive-sided Flycatcher Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Osprey Ovenbird Pacific Golden-Plover Pacific Loon Pacific-slope Flycatcher Painted Bunting Painted Redstart Palm Warbler Pectoral Sandpiper Pelagic Cormorant Peregrine Falcon Phainopepla Philadelphia Vireo Pied-billed Grebe Pigeon Guillemot Pileated Woodpecker Pine Grosbeak Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Pinyon Jay Piping Plover Plain Chachalaca Plumbeous Vireo Prairie Falcon Prairie Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Purple Finch Purple Gallinule Purple Martin Purple Sandpiper Pygmy Nuthatch Pyrrhuloxia Razorbill Red Crossbill Red Knot Red Phalarope Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-breasted Merganser Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-cockaded Woodpecker Red-eyed Vireo Red-faced Warbler Red-headed Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Phalarope Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-throated Loon Red-winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Redhead Ring-billed Gull Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Rock Pigeon Rock Ptarmigan Rock Sandpiper Rose-breasted Grosbeak Roseate Spoonbill Roseate Tern Ross’s Goose Rough-legged Hawk Royal Tern Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ruddy Duck Ruddy Turnstone Ruffed Grouse Rufous Hummingbird Rufous-capped Warbler Rufous-winged Sparrow Rusty Blackbird Sabine’s Gull Sage Sparrow Sage Thrasher Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow Sanderling Sandhill Crane Sandwich Tern Savannah Sparrow Say’s Phoebe Scaled Quail Scarlet Tanager Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scott’s Oriole Seaside Sparrow Sedge Wren Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Sandpiper Sharp-shinned Hawk Sharp-tailed Grouse Short-billed Dowitcher Short-eared Owl Slate-throated Redstart Smith’s Longspur Smooth-billed Ani Snail Kite Snow Bunting Snow Goose Snowy Egret Snowy Plover Solitary Sandpiper Song Sparrow Sooty Grouse Sora Spotted Owl Spotted Sandpiper Spotted Towhee Sprague’s Pipit Spruce Grouse Steller’s Jay Stilt Sandpiper Summer Tanager Surf Scoter Surfbird Swainson’s Hawk Swainson’s Thrush Swainson’s Warbler Swallow-tailed Kite Swamp Sparrow Tennessee Warbler Thick-billed Murre Townsend’s Solitaire Townsend’s Warbler Tree Swallow Tricolored Heron Tropical Kingbird Trumpeter Swan Tufted Puffin Tufted Titmouse Tundra Swan Turkey Vulture Upland Sandpiper Varied Bunting Varied Thrush Vaux’s Swift Veery Verdin Vermilion Flycatcher Vesper Sparrow Violet-green Swallow Virginia Rail Virginia’s Warbler Warbling Vireo Western Bluebird Western Grebe Western Gull Western Kingbird Western Sandpiper Western Screech-Owl Western Tanager Western Wood-Pewee Western-Meadowlark Whimbrel White Ibis White-breasted Nuthatch White-crowned Pigeon White-crowned Sparrow White-eyed Vireo White-faced Ibis White-headed Woodpecker White-rumped Sandpiper White-tailed Hawk White-tailed Kite White-tailed Ptarmigan White-throated Sparrow White-throated Swift White-tipped Dove White-winged Crossbill White-winged Dove White-winged Scoter Whooping Crane Wild Turkey Willet Williamson’s Sapsucker Willow Flycatcher Willow Ptarmigan Wilson’s Phalarope Wilson’s Plover Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Warbler Winter Wren Wood Duck Wood Stork Wood Thrush Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Worm-eating Warbler Wrentit Yellow Rail Yellow Warbler Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Magpie Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-headed Blackbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Vireo Yellow-throated Warbler Zone-tailed Hawk

Female Swan (Male vs Female Comparison)

Male and Female Swan

Female Swans are very large birds. They’re a part of the Anatidae family, which is a biological family that includes Swans, Ducks, and Geese.

Additionally, Swans are considered to be waterfowl. Waterfowl are birds that have webbed feet and broad, flat bills.

Swans are very intelligent birds and can remember those who have been kind and those who have not. Female Swans are called Pens; this comes from how females fold their wings back in a penned manner.

The name comes from the English term “Penne.”

 

How to Identify a Female Swan

It’s hard to tell if you’re looking at a male or female Swan from a distance. However, the good news is that there are ways for you to tell the sex of the bird you’re looking at if you can get a closer look. For the sake of clarity, we will be talking about Mute Swans.

Male and female Swans have over 25,000 feathers on their bodies and are almost identical in looks and size.

However, male Swans have a black bump, called a blackberry, at the base of their bill that swells during breeding season. This makes it easier to identify who’s who; however, you’ll be happy to know that outside of breeding season, the bump is still more prominent on males; it’s just not as noticeable.

Additionally, you can look at the necks of the swans. Female Swans have thinner necks.

Male and female swans

 

Call

Female Swans tend to be a little bit quieter than male Swans. Male Swans have muffled, hoarse, trumpet-like calls. They make these calls during territorial defense.

Additionally, Swans make an escalating hissing or snorting when disturbed or threatened. Mates will greet each other with a snoring sound. Female Swans will seek their mates with a deliberate glock, glock call.

Female Swans will call their broods with a sound that sounds like a yapping puppy. They are also known to slap the water with their feet to alert to potential intruders. They’ll either strike the water simultaneously or alternately.

 

Relations

Female Swans have short legs that sit far back on their bodies. This can give them an awkward walk; however, don’t let that fool you. These birds can run and can take off from land and water fast. Swans can run as fast as 22 miles per hour and fly anywhere from 18 to 30 miles per hour.

On the water, these birds are seen holding their wings out and slightly raised to “sail” in the wind. Female Swans mate with one male for life. However, if the male dies or they lose cygnets, she’ll find another mate.

Swans are relatively comfortable around humans, making them peaceful creatures most of the time. However, these birds can be very aggressive when defending their territory during breeding season.

Mute Swan showing its aggressive side

This could be because they feel threatened or are protecting their young. While physical attacks on humans are uncommon, they can be dangerous due to the speeds they can reach. If another swan were to approach a mated pair, they’ll raise their wings and tuck their neck to warn the unwelcomed guest off.

Swans have also been known to chase off geese, ducks, gulls, humans, and dogs. These birds’ enormous appetites and aggressive nature of these birds can create a problem for wildlife managers.

In addition, Swans displace native species from foraging and breeding sites and can cause damage to habitats by overgrazing. However, they do like to give each other high-fives! Once they successfully scare off those from their territory they’ll call to each other in celebration and flap their wings.

Swans prefer aquatic habitats, coastal estuaries, farm ponds, and urban lakes. From New England south to Virginia and in the Pacific Northwest, mated pairs will choose saltwater, fresh, and brackish ponds for breeding.

If they settle more inland, swans will breed on bogs, slow-moving rivers, creeks, streams that empty into large lakes, embayments, and other bodies of water.

 

Lifecycle of Female Swans

Swans can live up to 20 to 30 years. This range is for wild Swans. Of course, pet and farm-raised Swans can live longer. Adult Swans and Cygnets are prey to mink and foxes. However, Cygnets have more predators. These birds are mainly prey to herons, crows, magpies, pike, large perch, and turtles.

Cygnets - young swans

Male Swans are the ones to pick the nesting site. They may even start a number of nests before the female welcomes the location. Nest sites are built in safe places from flooding, but they’re close enough to water where the parents will have easy access. This allows them to acquire food and nesting materials easily.

Male Swans will start by building a platform of crisscrossed vegetation. Then, he’ll place greenery next to the platform for his mate to pile onto the base of the nest. Next, the female will use her feet and body to mold a cup in the nest.

Nesting materials include reeds, twigs, cattails, sedges, cordgrasses, rushes, pebbles, and bulrushes. In addition, the cup can contain some down and rotting vegetation. When the nest is finished, it’ll be 5 feet wide and 1.5 – 2.1 feet tall.

The cup will be 15 inches wide and have a depth of 3 – 10 inches. Completion takes about 10 days, and the mated pair may continue to add materials to the nest during egg laying and brooding.

  • Clutch size can range from 2 to 5 eggs.
  • Egg length can be anywhere from 3.5 to 4.6 inches (9 to 11.6 centimeters).
  • Egg width can be anywhere from 2.3 to 2.9 inches (5.9 to 7.4 centimeters)
  • The incubation periods can range from 34 to 41 days.
  • Eggs are bluish-green when they’re first laid. They’ll change to a chalky white as time goes on. The eggs can sometimes have olive brown on them due to materials stuck to the parents’ feet.

 

Baby Swans stay with their parents until they are around 3 or 4 years old. Once they hit that age they will leave and find a mate.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a female swan called?

Female Swans are called Pens – this comes from how females fold their wings back in a penned manner. The name comes from the English term “Penne.”

How can you tell a swan’s gender?

Male Swans have a black bump, called a blackberry, at the base of their bill that’s larger than the females. Additionally, you can look at the necks of the swans. Female Swans have thinner necks.

Are white swans male or female?

White Swans can be both male or female.

Do swans have one mate for life?

Swans are monogamous birds that can spend a lifetime with a single mate. However, Swans have found a new mate for various reasons like the death of their babies or their mate.

How long do female swans live?

Female Swans can live up to 20 to 30 years.

How long do swans stay with their mother?

Cygnets, baby Swans, will stay with their mothers for 5 to 10 months.

About the Author

Brianna Goulet

Brianna loves to get outdoors for everything creative and fun. She has a passion for birds and is a hobbyist wildlife photographer based in Central Florida. Her goal is to share everything you need to know about birds so you can get out there, explore, and identify confidently!

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