Week 46 – Mute Swan

 

Invasive Mute Swan. Photograph by Neil Paprocki.

I had so many photos of this Mute Swan, but chose the one that I thought made the bird look the most evil. Not that Mute Swan’s are inherently evil, because they are definitely not, but I thought this would be a great opportunity to have a discussion about introduced, non-native, and invasive bird species which cause so much ecological devastation around the world.

Introduced, or non-native species are ones that are able to survive outside of their naturally evolved habitats or geographic locations. There are many, many introduced species in North America, and not all of them are necessarily bad. Himalayan Snowcock, a large pheasant-like bird from Asia, was introduced to the Ruby Mountains of Nevada where it has persisted in small numbers within a very small geographic location.

Other introduced species did not stay in one location after being introduced, and instead spread very rapidly across almost the entire North American continent. The most famous examples of these are the European Starling and House Sparrow. These are invasive species.

The House Sparrow, a native of Europe, was introduced in New York City in the 1850s as a form of nostalgia for those European immigrants wishing to see a familiar backyard bird. After this seemingly innocent introduction, House Sparrows quickly adapted to their new environment and in just 70 years had reached all the way across the continent to Vancouver, British Columbia. Today they are one of the most ubiquitous bird species in North America, especially in human-dominated areas.

Invasive species such at House Sparrows, European Starlings, and even Mute Swans cause a wide variety of damage to natural systems that evolved in the presence of other, native bird species. Mute Swans are more wide ranging on the eastern half of the continent, but are still found in many parks on the west coast and even into interior North America. Specifically, Mute Swans negatively affect native waterfowl species and the ecosystems they inhabit.

Adult Mute Swan. Photograph by Neil Paprocki.

For me, even though I find Swans breathtakingly beautiful, the knowledge that this species is an invasive and harmful to our native North American fauna diminishes their beauty.

I know it isn’t the birds fault, but it is the fault of those people who decided it would be a good idea to introduce a bird species to an area it clearly doesn’t belong.

All of the previous 52-week blog photos can be found at the Wild Lens blog or on Flickr.