• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Mute Swan ageing. (1 Viewer)

B

Brett Richards

Well-known member
United Kingdom
This Mute Swan, photographed at Scarborough Mere, England on 24 February appears to be either an advanced 1w or a retarded 2w. I would go for the latter, but could the buff/brown areas of the plumage be due to something other than immaturity.

Informed comments welcome.

Brett
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    127.3 KB · Views: 87
Brett, can we get a zoomed image of the ring, to get the number and then that will give a much better, if not definitive, idea of what the answer is.
 
Looks like W88325 to me.

Interesting that it's a letter & 5 numbers; some Mutes I got numbers from up here recently were 2 letters & 4 numbers.
 
Brett Richards said:
Another photo of the same bird attached. Don't think it's staining. A bit too symmetrical, and why would the wing ends be stained?

Brett
Click to expand...

Missed this post somehow - it's quite common to see staining like this, when they root for food in iron-rich mud at the bottom of ponds, this gets yellow-brown rust staining on the upper neck, which then transfers to the wings when they preen.
 
jenks86 said:
Eyes may be tricking me But W88?25

Red bit i'm not 100% on.

Report it to the BTO and mention in the comments that you have a photo. They may well ask for the photo. They did once put one on their blog and the viewers eventually worked it out.

https://app.bto.org/euring/lang/pages/recovery_form.jsp

If you see him again you will know where to point your camera anyway!
Click to expand...

I have reported it as you suggested. I will post on here if they can identify the individual.

Brett
 
Nutcracker said:
Missed this post somehow - it's quite common to see staining like this, when they root for food in iron-rich mud at the bottom of ponds, this gets yellow-brown rust staining on the upper neck, which then transfers to the wings when they preen.
Click to expand...

I still don't think this is staining, but could be wrong. If the bird proves to be older than 3cy then I obviously am.

Brett
 
I wouldn't hesitate in calling this an adult if I saw it at Abbotsbury. A 2cy should have a much darker bill and darker feathers should be grey-brown. Even a 3cy's bill should be darker and it should have no dark feathers. I would say the dark coloring is due to a fungus infection, a relatively common occurrence, particular!y in older less fit individuals.

Steve (Abbotsbury Swanherd).
 
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

KenM
What was you’re worst string?
2
Replies
33
Views
3K
maplekong
M
B
White immature Whooper Swans, Flamborough, England
Replies
0
Views
515
Brett Richards
B
B
Strange Whooper Swan, Flamborough, England
Replies
1
Views
550
Nutcracker
Nutcracker
G
  • Article
2024: The Beginning
Replies
4
Views
542
Green Sandpiper
G
G
  • Article
Broken Biscuits Birdwatching
Replies
6
Views
578
Stonefaction
Stonefaction

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top