Ben Griffin, age 9, of Chattanooga, Tenn., for his question:
WHERE DOES THE WHISTLING SWAN LIVE?
The whistling swan is a stately water bird. It is one of seven species that lives in various parts of the world. The whistling swan nests around the Arctic Ocean and the Hudson Bay region.
In winter the whistling swan flies as far south as the Carolinas. Great flocks of the birds can be seen heading south between October and April. They fly in V shaped formations.
In the northern territory the whistling swan spends the spring and summer. Observers report that the birds fly at speeds of 40 to 50 miles per hour.
As the swans fly, they fill the air with a wide range of whistling sounds. It is this sound that has given the bird its name.
Whistling swans make their nests out of water plants and line them with down from their bodies. Their nests are usually very massive in size. Sometimes they stand two feet high and measure up to six feet across.
The female whistling swan lays five to seven white eggs in June.
The young are called cygnets. When they are first born, they are covered with grayish brown down. They become snow white by the end of a year.
The male swan is called a cob and the female is called a pen.
The whistling swan is a big bird. It grows to be a bit less than five feet long. It is white except for a yellow spot between the nostrils and eyes. The legs, feet and bill are black.
In addition to the whistling swan, there are six other species: the trumpeter swan, the black necked swan, the European whistling swan, the mute swan, the Bewick's swan and the black swan.
The swan is closely related to geese and ducks.
Swans feed on worms, shellfish and the seeds and roots of water plants. The birds dip their long, curving necks far into the water in search of food.
The trumpeter swan, once almost extinct, resembles the whistling swan. It weighs up to 40 pounds, making it the heaviest flying bird in North America. Its call sounds clear and shirll. Like the whistling swan, it has a black bill.
The black necked swan is a waterfowl that lives in South America.
Swans of the Eastern Hemisphere include the European whistling swan, the mute swan and Bewick's swan, which is a smaller bird. The mute swan, which has a scarlet bill and is considered a royal bird in England since 1462, can be seen in zoos, parks and estates there. It is said that this swan never uses its voice in captivity.
The black swan, marked by a scarlet bill banded in white, lives in Australia.