You can also see this swan photograph processed as an HDR image.
Cygnets
We are adding many pictures of swans with cygnets, These pictures can be found throughout the Swan & Swans website however below we have some of the more important links to these pictures, we hope you enjoy these photographs.
Cygnets - pictures in two sizes up to 1600px wide
Cygnet - this section also has scenic pictures of Scotland
Picture Gallery Cygnets section - images up to 1100px wide
Swan Photo Gallery
I am adding most of our photographs to our Swan picture gallery. At the moment we have just around 100 pictures of swans, cygnets and scenic locations (with swans) and plan to add many more. The pictures have been taken using a number of low cost digital cameras. At the moment I often take a compact Panasonic DMC-TZ10 camera everywhere I go; it is has a great lens and a 12x optical zoom, allowing for reasonable wildlife photography for birds such as swans which are all reasonably easy to get close to. The photographs of young, and sometimes very young cygnets were only possibly using the optical zoom capacity of my digital cameras, as swans can be very protective of their young.
Swan Pictures
Swan Pictures including photographs of young cygnets
Cygnets Just Hatched
Digital Photo Paintings
I have used some of my photographs to create digital paintings using digital auto painting software, the results are interesting and they can be used as wallpaper or for printing. The first page brings up a 780x585 px image and if you click on this image it will open another page with a larger 1600x1200 you can use to print posters or wall hanging prints. In the future I may add larger images to photo printing services to allow people to purchase prints and other goods online. If you like this idea drop me an e-mail to let me know, thanks. More pictures created using digital painting software can be found on the Swan picture gallery.
Swan Video
Video of swans filmed when I was fascinated by watching young cygnets growing up. As I passed them every day going to, and coming back from work, I ended up taking hundreds (possibly thousands) of pictures and short video recorded using my digital camera. We also have a video on young cygnets.
Swans & Cygnets
More pictures of swans as well as digital photo art images and jigsaw puzzles.
Swans in love, one of my favourite swan pictures.
Swan websites
Swan Lifeline is a charity devoted to helping rescue and look after injured swans.
The Swan Sanctuary - UK with a very interesting section on Swan Species.
The Trumpeter Swan Society, North America, is a means for those who cherish these swans to work together and support their continued conservation and restoration.
The Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust has a lot of information on swans as well as
Mute Swan page on The RSPB site.
BBC Mute Swan nature page
Swan Upping is the annual census of the swan population on stretches of the Thames in the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Also see interesting article on the history of the Swan Upping.
Wildlife and Nature websites
New Zealand Birds for books and pictures on Birds in New Zealand.
The Internet Bird Collection - thousands of pictures and videos on birds including swans.
The RSPB bird website
Birds of Britain has hundreds of pages on birds including picture gallery.
UK Safari for facts and pictures on UK wildlife.
All About Birds - The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Travel, Holidays & Vacations
Visit & Travel for holidays and places to visit.
Scotland maps, cottages and more on Scotland.
Gairloch cottages and information on the Highlands of Scotland.
About Swans
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six to seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as the Coscoroba Swan, although this species is no longer considered related to the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though 'divorce' does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.
The word swan is derived from Old English swan, akin to the German Schwan and Dutch zwaan and Swedish svan, in turn derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing). Young swans are known as cygnets, from Greek κύκνος, kýknos and from the Latin word cygnus ("swan") and the Old French suffix -et ("little"), or as swanlings. An adult male is a cob, from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group); an adult female is a pen.
Description
The swans are the largest members of the duck family Anatidae, and are among the largest flying birds. The largest species, including the mute swan, trumpeter swan, and whooper swan, can reach length of over 1.5 m (60 inches) and weigh over 15 kg (33 pounds). Their wingspans can be almost 3 m (10 ft). Compared to the closely related geese they are much larger in size and have proportionally larger feet and necks. They also have a patch of unfeathered skin between the eyes and bill in adults. The sexes are alike in plumage, but males are generally bigger and heavier than females.
The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage but the Southern Hemisphere species are mixed black and white. The Australian Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings; the chicks of black swans are light grey in colour, and the South American Black-necked Swan has a black neck.
The legs of swans are normally a dark blackish grey colour, except for the two South American species, which have pink legs. Bill colour varies: the four subarctic species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow, and all the others are patterned red and black. Although most birds generally do not have teeth, swans are known to be an exception to this, having small jagged 'teeth' as part of their beaks used for catching and eating fish. The Mute Swan and Black-necked Swan have a lump at the base of the bill on the upper mandible.
Swans distribution and movements
Whooper Swans migrate from Iceland, Scandinavia and Northern Russia to Europe, Central Asia, China and Japan.
The swans are generally found in temperate environments, rarely occurring in the tropics. A group of swans is called a bevy or a wedge in flight. Four (or five) species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, one species is found in Australia and New Zealand and one species is distributed in southern South America. They are absent from tropical Asia, Central America, northern South America and the entirety of Africa. One species, the Mute Swan, has been introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Several species are migratory, either wholly or partly so. The Mute Swan is a partial migrant, being resident over areas of Western Europe but wholly migratory in Eastern Europe and Asia. The Whooper Swan and Tundra Swan are wholly migratory, and the Trumpeter Swans are almost entirely migratory. There is some evidence that the Black-necked Swan is migratory over part of its range, but detailed studies have not established whether these movements are long or short range migration.
Swan behaviour
Swans feed in the water and on land. They are almost entirely herbivorous, although they may eat small amounts of aquatic animals. In the water food is obtained by up-ending or dabbling, and their diet is composed of the roots, tubers, stems and leaves of aquatic and submerged plants.
Swans form socially monogamous pair bonds that last for many years, and in some cases these can last for life. Modern genetic techniques are starting to reveal that 'divorces' are more common than previously thought, as is mating with other swans outside of the social pairing, without breaking the social pair bond. These bonds are maintained year round, even in gregarious and migratory species like the Tundra Swan, which congregate in large flocks in the wintering grounds. The nest is on the ground near water and about a metre across. Unlike many other ducks and geese the male helps with the nest construction. Average egg size (for the mute swan) is 113×74 mm, weighing 340 g, in a clutch size of 4 to 7, and an incubation period of 34–45 days. With the exception of the whistling ducks they are the only anatids where the males aid in incubating the eggs.
Information taken from Wikipedia see full article on Swans including their role in history.