There are only few more days to
the Valentine’s Day which is fallen on 14th.February. Day is special
for lovers and if you are undecided on what to do on this Valentines’ day,
ZooLander suggests you to visit the Zoo to meet a symbol of love that mates for
life..!!
Valentine’s Day is on next week and perhaps
you have already done the shopping to select a gift for your loved one. If the
gift is a kind of an ornament, ZooLander bets that most of lovers will get a
gift portraying a pair of swans or geese. That is the fame received by these
lovable birds as they are commonly associated with romance. Their stark white
beauty, graceful swimming and the fact that they mates for life all add up to
make Swans the Symbol of Love.
To strengthen this image as birds of love,
the Swans and Geese were given the most picturesque enclosure of Dehiwala Zoo.
You can observe few pairs of these white birds in this enclosure that that has
a spacious pond with lots of greenery. The most eye-catching feature of this
enclosure is the artificial waterfall that falls from a considerable height.
Trees with lots of hanging lianas make the setting perfect for these swans and
geese to unfold their romance in Dehiwala Zoo.
The name board in the Swan Pond of the Dehiwala
zoo mentions Mute Swans Cygnus olor. The mute swan
is a very large white waterbird which can be heavy as much as 25-30 lbs.
measuring 56-62 inches in length. It has a long S-shaped neck, and their orange
bills with black knobs, white plumage and long necks make them strikingly
attractive. When swimming, mute swans often hold their wings slightly upraised
over their back, forming a hump if viewed from the side and they flies with its
neck extended and regular slow wingbeats. The face between the bill and eyes is
naked and black, and legs and feet are black.
Mates for Life
Yes, that is true – these Swans and Geese
usually mate for life and contrast to other birds. They are trusted partners
which are known as Monogomy in animal kingdom. One male mate with several
females which is known as Polygomy which is the most common occurrence among
animals, but quite contrasts, the swans has chosen to be mates for life where a
single male selects a single female to mate and raise their swan family.
In
the wild, a juvenile swan normally lives as part of a flock until it is about 4
years old and deemed as being an adult. It then seeks out a mate, most commonly
from the flock it's living in, and heads off with the mate to find their own
mating territory. If another mating pair is nearby then problems can occur in
the form of a territorial battle, the losers of which will have to move on in
search of another "patch".
Mated
pairs usually raise one brood per year. They construct a nest
using a huge mound of material, normally dried grasses and assorted vegetation,
sticks and rushes, constructed at the water's edge. The nest is built by the
female, while the male supplies the materials. The female lays up to seven
eggs between late April and early May. Not giving the burden of incubation only
to the female, father swan too sits on the nest providing necessary warmth for
the eggs to hatch. The hatching should goes for 35-41 days continuously.
The young birds, or cygnets, sometimes ride on their
parents' backs and remain with the adult birds for four or five months. Cygnets
are not as white as their parents and usually brown above and whitish below. This
also based for the fair tail of the ugly duckling where a stranded young
duckling was humiliated for his dirty look, but where finally he become one of
the most beautiful bird as it grow.
The young of some pairs are driven off the breeding
territory as soon as their plumage is predominantly white (during late autumn
or winter). Other broods often accompany their parents to the wintering area,
and usually join a large flock in which they remain when the parents return to
their breeding territory. Young birds will not generally breed for the first
two years of adult life.
The male and the female birds, the cob and pen, usually
attempt to mate for life and only if one of the birds were to die then they
looks for another mate. After several failed nesting attempts, some pairs
rarely ‘divorce’ their mate and goes for a new mate finds the researchers.
Why mate for life..?
Love usually helps human couples to be
mates of life. But Zoologists thinks that birds do not form emotional
relationships like humans do, and their principle drive for forming a pair pond
is to produce offspring rather than for any emotional fulfillment.
Birds
that do form long term pair bonds may remain together for several breeding
seasons without elaborate courtship renewals, though there may be some minor
displays and other refreshing of their bond. Depending on the species, these
birds may remain together until one partner dies, after which the other bird
will seek another mate. Another common occurrence is that the birds stay
together for several seasons, but they may find new, stronger partners at any time
and could switch loyalties if they perceive that it would increase the chances
of producing surviving offspring.
While
these benefits are not the same for every species, those that do appear to mate
for life can take advantage such as availability of Larger Territories, Longer
youth care and Multiple broods. Where there are larger territories if they must
make annual efforts to attract new mates, they would be unable to defend the
amount of space they need for feeding. Larger birds require longer incubation
periods for the young to fully form within the eggs, and after hatching the
young birds require more extensive care or teaching from their parents in case
of Longer Youth Care. With long term bonds, the parent birds can mate earlier
in the season and give their offspring the necessary time to develop fully
before migration or harsh weather sets in. This is true for many large birds,
including cranes, raptors and geese.
Multiple
Broods is where while many birds that only mate for a single season also produce
multiple broods. Birds with long term bonds can often restart a brood if
predators clean out a nest or if other circumstances destroy the eggs. This is
another tactic birds can use to increase the odds of having viable offspring
even in uncertain seasons. Birds of prey and many waterfowl have different nest
threats that make long term bonds and multiple broods a necessity if their
species are to survive.
Are ‘Mute Swans’ really mute..?
Despite their name, these birds are not
really mute. Adult birds are usually silent but will use hisses, barks and
rattling snorts when threatened, and juvenile birds have additional whining
calls to attract attention.
We think all the aquatic birds that swim on the water are
hunting fish for their meal. But this is a misconception where swans and geese
are vegetarians. Swans eat aquatic vegetation, which their long necks equip
them to take from the riverbed. They take the molluscs that cling to the
vegetation, and also eat small fish, frogs and worms. Grain, such as wheat, and
vegetable matter, especially lettuce and potatoes, can be fed to swans. In
Dehiwala Zoo, they are given vegetables and also some sort of a serial where
they gulp greedily.
Mute Swan can be found in wild mainly in European
countries. But they are domesticated by many cultures and show a wide-spread
distribution around the world. The oldest ringed wild mute swan was 15 years
old and even in the wild Swans do not have many natural enemies as they are
well equipped to defend themselves against most predators. The main predators
are foxes, which from time to time take birds roosting in accessible places.
But the main threats come from pollution of freshwater areas, lead weights
previously used by anglers, fishing tackle, and overhead power lines. Vandalism
is a problem in some areas.
Swans in Human Culture
Swans have left their image throughout history. It is
said that during the Middle Ages, the mute swan was considered to be a valuable
commodity and was regularly traded between noblemen. The owners of swans were
duty bound to mark their property by way of a succession of unique nicks in the
beaks of their birds. It was the duty of the Royal Swanmaster to organise the
annual swan-upping, a tradition that survives to this day. The Queen has a
prerogative over all swans in England and Wales. The Swan Keeper also
despatches swans all over the world, sent as gifts in the Queens name.
The only two companies that still observe the tradition
of owning swans on the Thames are the Worshipful Companies of Vintners and
Dyers. The Royal swans are no longer marked, but an unmarked mute swan on the
Thames is regarded as belonging to the Queen by default. The Queen still
maintains an officially-appointed Swan Keeper, and the ceremony still takes
place on the Monday of the third week in July.
Geese in the Swan Pond
Other than the Mute Swans, several pairs of domesticated
geese too can be observed in the Swan Pond of Dehiwala Zoo. With the pinkish
feet, they are easy to identify when they are out of water and they are missing
the black patches on the beak of the Mute Swan. Geese too is said to make
strong bonds. If you visit the Swan pond these days, you can find one of these
geese has made a nest and incubating the eggs at a corner.
It really will be a nice experience for you to visit the
Zoo on this Valentine’s Day and have a look at these lovable birds swimming
free in the Picturesque Swan Pond in Dehiwala Zoo.
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