The Slimbridge pecking order!
The cold weather has encouraged yet more swans to fly in with 39 birds arriving at Slimbridge over the past week pushing the count up to 130 today!
We welcomed back 17 year old Geena who brought mate Hugo back to the reserve for their tenth winter together. Swan Lake is resembling a noisy classroom at times with territorial battles a plenty. New family Orb and Orbit with their four cygnets, are causing quite a stir as they repeatedly attempt to snatch space from the most powerful families, Croupier and Dealer and their five cygnets, and By Brook and Keynell with their four cygnets. With such formidable forces in conflict, we have seen some spectacular wing flapping, shouting, lunging and grappling!
- Battles (by Colin Butters)
Although male swans often lead aggressive encounters, family members usually lend their support. The cygnets seem very quick to learn! After victory, the lake is buzzing with triumph displays, a concoction of wing flapping, calling and head bowing, as winners reunite and bond again and display their fighting prowness!
Inevitably, a dominance hierarchy is quickly established although the order may change throughout the winter as new birds arrive.
So what are the benefits of being at the top of the pecking order? Well, access to the best feeding and roosting spots seem the most likely benefits. In fact, female birds that spend more time feeding are more likely to be in better condition and more dominant. Female birds tend to benefit from the presence of a mate, perhaps due to the ability of the male to protect her. Interestingly, lower ranking males have also been found to be in better condition than paired, dominance males. Maintaining a dominant position is physically demanding and there are of course some costs...
The main long-term benefit of being close to the top is improved breeding success which also comes with long partnerships.
