Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Mute Swan |
Mute SwanNoun1. Soundless Eurasian swan; commonly domesticated. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Synonym: Mute SwanSynonym: Cygnus olor (n). (additional references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
| Mute Swan | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||||||
| Larger version | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Cygnus olor |
The Mute Swan, Cygnus olor, is a common Eurasian member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae.
This bird is found naturally mainly in temperate areas of Europe and western Asia. It is not migratory, although eastern populations must move in winter when the lakes freeze.
Owing to its looks, this species is often kept in captivity to decorate parks and ponds, and descendants of such birds have become naturalised in the eastern United States.
This huge swan is one of the heaviest flying birds. Its size, red bill and white plumage make it almost unmistakable. The most similar species is Whooper Swan, but that has a yellow and black bill, and lacks the curved "swan" neck.
Young birds, called "cygnets" are brown rather than white, and lack the bright red bill
Mute Swans nest on large mounds that they build in the middle of a shallow lake. These monogamous birds reuse the same nest each year, restoring or rebuilding it as needed. Male and female swans share the care of the nest, and once the cygnets are fledged it is not uncommon to see whole families looking for food. They feed on submerged aquatic vegetation, reached with their long bills.
Although this bird can be tame, it is aggressive in defence of its nest, and its size and impressive hissing make it a formidable adversary for animals as large as a Fox. Unlike Black Swans, Mute Swans are strongly territorial. The familiar pose with neck curved back and wings half raised is a threat display.
Despite its name, this bird can make a variety of hisses and grunts, but it is certainly much less vocal than the noisy Whooper and Bewick's Swans. The most familiar sound associated with Mute Swan is the whistling of the wings in flight once this bird has laboriously taken off from the water.
All Mute Swans in Britain are considered the property of the British monarch, except for flocks owned by the Vintners' and Dyers' Companies.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Mute Swan."
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Mute swan. Mute swans are an agressive invasive species along the East Coast. There are now over 3,000 mute swans in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | Mute swan nest. Mute swans are an agressive invasive species along the East Coast. There are now over 3,000 mute swans in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | 5 mute swan cygnets. Mute swans are an agressive invasive species. There are now over 3,000 mute swans in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | A high-marsh tide pool at Barren Island. A mute swan is in the background. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
 | Mute Swan. Credit: USDA. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
mute swan | 111 |
in md mute swan | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "mute swan"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||
Danish | knopsvane. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Dutch | knobbelzwaan. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
French | cygne tuberculé. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
German | Höckerschwan. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Greek | βουβόκυκνος (nute swan). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Italian | cigno reale. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Manx | ollay valloo. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | utemay answay cisne (swan). (various references) cisne vulgar. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Cygnus olor, RM:cign dumesti. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-m-n-s-t-u-w" | |
-2 letters: aments, mantes, meatus, mutase, stamen, unmews, unseam, unseat, untame. | |
-3 letters: amens, ament, amuse, antes, aunts, etnas, manes, manse, manus, mates, mauts, means, meant, meats, mensa, menta, menus, mutes, names, nates, neats, nemas, neums, newts, satem, saute, sewan, stane, steam, sweat, tames, tawse, teams, tunas, tunes, twaes, unmet, unmew, unset, unsew, usnea, wames. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4D 75 74 65 53 77 61 6E |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001101 01110101 01110100 01100101 00100000 01010011 01110111 01100001 01101110 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)M u t e   S w a n |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)004D 0075 0074 0065 0053 0077 0061 006E |
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)47878671253896780 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Images: Slideshow | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Expressions: Internet 7. Translations: Modern 8. Translations: Ancient | 9. Anagrams 10. Orthography 11. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
