Swans are spread in Eurasia, North and South America and Australia. These birds live on the shores of reservoirs, and can settle both on relatively small rivers and lakes, and on the banks of large bodies of water – in the sea lagoons and estuaries. All species of swans can be conditionally divided into 2 groups: northern species prefer to live in the temperate zone and are most often found in the tundra and northern forests, the southern ones live on lakes and marshes of the tropical zone.
The southern species are sedentary, and the northern species are migratory. Eurasian species of swans winter in Middle and South Asia (India, the Caspian Sea) and in the Mediterranean, American swans spend the winter on the California coast and in Florida.
Swans live in pairs. Each pair occupies a certain area and protects it from the invasion of neighbors and other birds, but where the swans nest massively the boundaries of their sites are erased, in this case the birds may have their nests not far from each other and the neighbors are more tolerant. The temper of the swans is calm and noisy. Usually these birds swim slowly without giving a vote. Screaming swans rarely, but their voice is very sonorous. This is reflected in the names of some species (swan-swan, swan-trumpeter).
But the most famous form – the swan-mute swan – is almost speechless, these swans can not shout, they only hiss in case of threat. Swans are not timid birds, in case of danger they try to scare off the enemy by stretching their necks, flapping their wings and biting their beaks. Do not underestimate such “peaceful” ways of fighting – the swan is a large and strong bird and the impact of the wing is able to break the hand of a teenager.
