Mute Swan

Размеры примерно как у кликуна. Основной признак - красный клюв с черным наростом на лбу и черным основанием. Издали сидящего на воде или на берегу шипуна можно узнать по манере иногда складывать крылья на спине пышным "домиком", шея относительно более толстая, чем у кликуна, обычно с изящным S-образным изгибом, клюв немного опущен. Самка немного меньше самца, нарост на клюве у нее меньше. Молодые буровато-серые, на лбу нароста нет, но хорошо видно черное основание клюва. Вес 5.5-14.3 кг, длина 145-160, крыло самцов 58.0-62.3, самок - 53.3- 58.9, размах 208-238 см.

Common breeding migrant. Inhabits fresh and salty lakes with reed beds and reed mace. Appears end February – early March in southern areas, and end March – early April in the North. Migration continues to mid-May. Breeds in separate pairs up to 500-1500 m. Large nest built in reed or mace beds in shallow water from dry reed stems. The inner cup is not particularly lined although some pieces of water grass and down appear in nests during incubation. Clutches of 3-7 eggs in mid-April – early May, sometimes earlier; and towards the end June, which can be replacement clutches. Female mostly incubates, male may sit for short periods. Juveniles hatch end May - June and begin to fly in August – September, and sometimes only at end of October. Adults moult while tending the brood, immature birds moult in flocks of several hundred on large lakes. Autumn migration lasts from end August – September to mid – end October or even to mid December, depending on when lakes begin to freeze. Adults with offspring leave together. Huge concentrations in shallow waters of Northern Caspian Sea in autumn. Birds ringed at Kurgaldzhino Lakes were found in winter on Caspian Sea (Kara-Bogaz-Gol, Dagestan), at Kabardino-Balkariya and at Kherson Region and Krym, Black Sea.