Mute Swan

The mute swan is a large swan, typically 140–160 cm long with a wingspan of 200–240 cm, wholly white with an orange bill bordered with black and dark grey legs. Males are larger than females and have a larger knob on the bill. The name mute comes from its being less vocal than other swans. Young birds, called cygnets, are not the bright white of adults and have a dull greyish-black bill for the first year (Wikipedia, general species account).

Unlike black swans, mute swans are usually strongly territorial, with a single pair on smaller lakes, though in a few places with a large area of good feeding habitat they can be colonial. In courtship display they utter a rhythmic song. The cached account describes mainly European birds and gives no detail specific to India. SoIB 2023 lists it as a winter migrant of wetlands that eats plants and seeds, and does not assign a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).