OT Swans beaks question

In article <[email hidden]>, Boo
<reply_to_group_not_me@spam_me_no_spam.net> writes

Quoted message said:

Hi,

What's the reasaon for swans beaks varying in colour from bright orange
to dingy grey ? I noticed this the other day and wondered if anyone
here might know what the colour correlates with ?

The colour correlates first with age. Grey in cygnets, gradually getting
colour in their first year, brightening in the 2nd and 3rd years and at
its brightest from 3-4 onward. It then becomes a sexual signal. The
brighter the beak, the better condition the bird is in and so the more
attractive it is to a potential mate. Just the same as coloured plumage
in other species.

--
Malcolm

Malcolm said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Boo
<reply_to_group_not_me@spam_me_no_spam.net> writes

Quoted message said:

Hi,

What's the reasaon for swans beaks varying in colour from bright orange
to dingy grey ? I noticed this the other day and wondered if anyone
here might know what the colour correlates with ?

The colour correlates first with age. Grey in cygnets, gradually getting
colour in their first year, brightening in the 2nd and 3rd years and at
its brightest from 3-4 onward.

Further to this, other species of swans occuring in the UK have yellow
beaks. These are whooper swans
http://www.shetlandwildlife.co.uk/holidays/images/Whooper-Swan-by-Hugh-Harrop.jpg
The two in the middle are juveniles.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

In message <[email hidden]>

Phil Cook said:

Malcolm said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Boo
<reply_to_group_not_me@spam_me_no_spam.net> writes

Quoted message said:

Hi,

What's the reasaon for swans beaks varying in colour from bright orange
to dingy grey ? I noticed this the other day and wondered if anyone
here might know what the colour correlates with ?

The colour correlates first with age. Grey in cygnets, gradually getting
colour in their first year, brightening in the 2nd and 3rd years and at
its brightest from 3-4 onward.

Further to this, other species of swans occuring in the UK have yellow
beaks. These are whooper swans
http://www.shetlandwildlife.co.uk/holidays/images/Whooper-Swan-by-Hugh-Harrop.jpg
The two in the middle are juveniles.

And of course in winter months you also get the Bewick's which are
slightly smaller than the Whooper's and the ratio of black to yellow on
the beak is slightly different. They are also more vocal than Mute
swans.

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Quoted message said:

The colour correlates first with age. Grey in cygnets,

Oh, I wondered which way around it was. There didn't seem to be an apparent
difference in the age of the ones I saw. Of course a sexual display is the
obvious reason when you think of it.

Cheers,

--
Boo

Quoted message said:

Further to this, other species of swans occuring in the UK have yellow
beaks. These are whooper swans
http://www.shetlandwildlife.co.uk/holidays/images/Whooper-Swan-by-Hugh-Harrop.jpg
The two in the middle are juveniles.

They look nice but I haven't seen any around here.

--
Boo

"Boo" <reply_to_group_not_me@spam_me_no_spam.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The colour correlates first with age. Grey in cygnets,

Oh, I wondered which way around it was. There didn't seem to be an
apparent difference in the age of the ones I saw. Of course a sexual
display is the obvious reason when you think of it.

Cheers,
--
Boo

Is "Boo" the sort of thing you might say to a swan?
Is your surname Radley?

In article <[email hidden]>, Phil Cook
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Malcolm said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Boo
<reply_to_group_not_me@spam_me_no_spam.net> writes

Quoted message said:

Hi,

What's the reasaon for swans beaks varying in colour from bright orange
to dingy grey ? I noticed this the other day and wondered if anyone
here might know what the colour correlates with ?

The colour correlates first with age. Grey in cygnets, gradually getting
colour in their first year, brightening in the 2nd and 3rd years and at
its brightest from 3-4 onward.

Further to this, other species of swans occuring in the UK have yellow
beaks. These are whooper swans
http://www.shetlandwildlife.co.uk/holidays/images/Whooper-Swan-by-Hugh-H
arrop.jpg
The two in the middle are juveniles.

See also:
http://www.nyctea.co.uk/photos/wildfowl/swan_whooper.html
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

W. D. Grey said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Phil Cook
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Further to this, other species of swans occuring in the UK have yellow
beaks. These are whooper swans
http://www.shetlandwildlife.co.uk/holidays/images/Whooper-Swan-by-Hugh-H
arrop.jpg
The two in the middle are juveniles.

See also:
http://www.nyctea.co.uk/photos/wildfowl/swan_whooper.html

Interesting aside. I note that the latin name of the whooper is Cygnus
cygnus. Presumably it must have been named by Linnaeus and since he
was a Swede whoopers must have been the most common swans to him and
so got to be called Swan swan.

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

In article <[email hidden]>, Phil Cook
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

W. D. Grey said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Phil Cook
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Further to this, other species of swans occuring in the UK have yellow
beaks. These are whooper swans
http://www.shetlandwildlife.co.uk/holidays/images/Whooper-Swan-by-Hugh-H
arrop.jpg
The two in the middle are juveniles.

See also:
http://www.nyctea.co.uk/photos/wildfowl/swan_whooper.html

Interesting aside. I note that the latin name of the whooper is Cygnus
cygnus. Presumably it must have been named by Linnaeus and since he
was a Swede whoopers must have been the most common swans to him and
so got to be called Swan swan.

Not so. Linnaeus actually named it Anas cygnus, in 1758. A few years
later, in 1789, Gmelin named the mute swan as Anas olor. Both mean 'duck
swan' (!), both olor and cygnus coming from the Latin, though olor has
been suggested as having a Celtic origin, while cygnus has a Greek
antecedent, kuknos.

The genus Cygnus appeared in 1803, named by Bechstein, who used it for
the mute swan, Cygnus olor. The whooper was put into that genus in 1831
by Brehm, except that he called it Cygnus islandicus, while other 19th
century authors called it Cygnus ferus and Cygnus musicus. It didn't
apparently become Cygnus cygnus until Saunders' Practical Handbook of
British Birds, published between 1919 and 1924.

--
Malcolm

In article <[email hidden]>, Phil Cook
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Presumably it must have been named by Linnaeus and since he
was a Swede whoopers must have been the most common swans to him and
so got to be called Swan swan.

That is linguistically very interesting and apparently obvious. I
suppose there is a lot of truth in that.
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

In article <[email hidden]>, Malcolm
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

It didn't apparently become Cygnus cygnus until Saunders' Practical
Handbook of British Birds, published between 1919 and 1924.

OH NO !! Not Saunders !!! Did he have to put in his four pennorth ?

Hang on! Is there another Saunders ?

P.S. (Post Script not...) :-) :-) :-) Ha! Ha! :-) :-)
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

why dont you just post a link to google everytime? its clear this is where
your **knowledge** comes from.

better to leave the thread to those who have constructive input rather than
just using a search engine **WE ALL COULD USE ANYWAY**

"Phil Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Malcolm said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Boo
<reply_to_group_not_me@spam_me_no_spam.net> writes

Quoted message said:

Hi,

What's the reasaon for swans beaks varying in colour from bright orange
to dingy grey ? I noticed this the other day and wondered if anyone
here might know what the colour correlates with ?

The colour correlates first with age. Grey in cygnets, gradually getting
colour in their first year, brightening in the 2nd and 3rd years and at
its brightest from 3-4 onward.

Further to this, other species of swans occuring in the UK have yellow
beaks. These are whooper swans
http://www.shetlandwildlife.co.uk/holidays/images/Whooper-Swan-by-Hugh-Harrop.jpg
The two in the middle are juveniles.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Andy T" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

why dont you just post a link to google everytime? its clear this is where
your **knowledge** comes from.

Quoted message said:

better to leave the thread to those who have constructive input rather than
just using a search engine **WE ALL COULD USE ANYWAY**

Yet more evidence (not that any is needed) that top posters are a lower
form of life.

--
Roger Chapman