Welcome to my free coloring pages blog!
Today's new drawings are of 2 species of Swans
that are native to North America, and one species that is here but is non-native.
The last drawing is of a non-native swan, but it is a drawing from
a previous post. It is a drawing of a Black Swan.
Trumpeter Swan with Cygnets
The Trumpeter Swan is the largest species of swan. The males can have a wingspan of 10 feet or 9 meters. They can weigh up to 26 lbs. That is almost 12 kg. Trumpeter swans are omnivores, feeding on insects and water plants as well as off of harvested corn, grain, and soybean fields. Trumpeter Swans are hard to distinguish from their smaller relative - the Tundra Swan. But Trumpeter Swans have a different call and they truly are much bigger. Sometimes the two species can be sighted together. A Trumpeter Swan's call can travel up to 5 miles.
Tundra Swans on a Pond
Tundra Swans are smaller than Trumpeter Swans, but they are very similar. One thing that is different is a yellow spot on the base of the bill of most Tundra Swans. These swans have a wingspan of up to 83 inches or 211 cm. So that is a large wingspan of 6 feet 11 inches. Impressive but not near as wide as the Trumpeter Swan wingspan. Swans mate for life. They can be split up by death or the death of their chicks. Then the two sad parents will find another swan of the opposite sex to again, "mate for life." Swans are actually very loyal and both parents help raise their young. But only the female swan will incubate the eggs. I guess the male helps keep watch.
Mute Swan on a Forest Pond
The Mute Swan is native to the old world, but it has been introduced to America from Europe - to decorate large estates and to be seen in zoos. This started from the mid-1800s to and went until around 1900. But some of the Mute Swans escaped and established breeding colonies in North America!
Mute Swans are not mute, but their calls are muffled and don't carry like the other species of swans. Mute Swans have a wingspan of 7 feet 11 inches. (The biggest males do.) That is 2.4 meters.
NOTE: These drawings, in printable form, are found by clicking on the "Birds" button and scrolling down. The newest drawings are at the bottom of the list. Click on the title and print. Below is the older drawing I did of a Black Swan. It is a drawing I did of a Black Swan that lives in a nearby zoo. The drawing of the Black Swan will be further up the list. New drawings are at the bottom of the list.
Black Swan in a River
Remember to color him black because Black Swans have a red bill. Also, It this is a male or a cob. Females are called a pen. This swan attacked our granddaughter through the fence of the zoo. So from experience, I can tell you they are aggressive. So they are both beautiful and grumpy.
We saw a whole flock of these Black Swans at the mouth of the Columbia River at the Washington State and Oregon border. My wife and I were surprised because we knew that Black Swans are native to Australia. But we did some research and discovered that, like Mute Swans, these Black Swans had been brought to the USA or Canada and escaped from estates to form their own wild flocks.
By the way, we met an expert on the local swans at the Bear River Migratory bird refuge. He is the Bear River Blogger. He often tells readers who go to his blog when to see different birds at the refuge.