Bewick's Swan

The Bewick’s Swan, Cygnus Bewickii, is one of the more established winter visitors to the United Kingdom, with up to 9000 of the bird migrating there each year. Indeed the Bewick’s Swan is one of only three swans to be commonly found in the United Kingdom, the others being the Mute Swan and the Whooper Swan.

Cygnus Bewickiiis a subspecies Cygnus columbianus, the Tundra Swan, but has a number of features that distinguishes it from other swans. Notably smaller than both the Whooper Swan and Mute Swan, the average size of a male is 135cm in length, with a wingspan of 180cm. This normally means that the swans peak at a weight of 10kg, although female Bewick’s Swans are smaller.

Bewick's Swan - Dick Daniels - CC-BY-SA-3.0

In appearance the Bewick’s Swan is very reminiscent of the Whooper Swan, although it has a shorter neck relative to its size, as well as a more rounded head. The beak though is arguably its most interesting feature, and the beak of the Bewick’s Swan is predominantly black with small amounts of yellow. The yellow markings though have been recognised to be unique to each bird.

The Bewick’s Swans are long time visitors to the United Kingdom and can be found from October through to March. The rest of the year sees them located in their breeding grounds of Siberia and the Arctic coastline. Exact numbers are not known, although there is thought to be a worldwide population of near to 40000, half of these winter in Europe with the other half migrating to East Asia.
Bewick’s Swans mate for life, and during the breeding season, the pen will normally lay five eggs, the incubation period being just over four weeks.

The ideal habitat for the Bewick’s Swan is in wetland areas, especially around lakes and slow moving rivers. To this end the UK populations of the swan are found in large numbers in Cambridgeshire, at the Ouse and Nene Washes, and around the River Severn, especially Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. The wetland areas provides the swans with their normal diet of shoots, roots and leaves, although the normal diet is also often supplemented with grain stubble from farmland. The social nature of the Bewick’s Swan means that it is normally to see family groups grow and stay together over a number of years.

Bewick's Swan - Jonathan Billinger - CC-BY-SA-2.0

As to why it is called Bewick’s Swan, it is recognition of the work undertaken by the eighteenth and nineteenth century British Engraver, Thomas Bewick, who did a great deal of work in creating images of British wildlife.

The Bewick’s Swan is a relatively common sight in the United Kingdom, and although perhaps not as instantaneously recognisable as the Whooper Swan, it is a welcome visitor to the island.

Copyright - First Published 1st March 2010