Photograph

Young Mute Swan

Mute swan · Cygnus olor

A first-year mute swan glides among the submerged branches of a pond, its plumage still grey-brown and its bill lacking the black knob of adults. It is alone, unlike adults which stay paired year-round: parents drive off the previous year's young when they resume defending their territory, and these birds wander on their own until they join a flock of other immatures.