photo #9369732

The Mute Swan Is Not Actually Mute The name is a comparison, not a description. Next to the bugling whooper and Bewick’s swans, the mute swan Cygnus olor sounds subdued. That is the entire origin of the label. Get close, though, and the repertoire opens up. I have heard hisses, low grunts, snorts, and a strange puppy-like bark from birds guarding young. The most distinctive sound is not vocal at all. It is the rhythmic, throbbing whistle their wings make in flight, audible a kilometre away on still air.