Mute Swan

Look for large, all-white birds moving slowly across calm freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, and sheltered estuaries, typically grazing on submerged vegetation by upending or sweeping the neck through shallow margins. During the breeding season, paired adults become conspicuously territorial — watch for the distinctive arched-wing busking display, in which the bird puffs its wings and drives intruders with powerful, splashing wingbeats, and listen for the low, resonant hissing and snorting at close range. Dawn and dusk offer the most active feeding windows, while late winter through early spring provides the best opportunities to observe courtship — pairs synchronize head-dipping displays on open water, and the lack of dense bankside vegetation makes birds easier to approach from a safe, unobtrusive distance.