Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

Abundance: Very Uncommon during winter; Rare during late spring, summer, and early fall; at least 40 records in 15 counties, 4 in Kentucky and 11 in Tennessee.

Status: Winter Resident (35 records); Summer Visitor (5 records); probably increasing but evidence thin; introduced into North America; no doubt self-introduced into Kentucky and Tennessee; photographs (see links below).

Regional High Count and CBC/CBB High Count: 21 (27 December 2004; Wayne County [during Wayne County CBC], Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton, Connie S. Neeley, Stephen J. Stedman); Next Highest Count: 19 (5 February 2006; Jackson County, Tennessee; Carol D. Williams photo).

Information on Records:

6 February 1994 (1) pond at intersection of Flat Fork Rd. and Rt. 62, Morgan County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

5 April 1995 (1 adult) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman photo; Stedman 2006-2009).

25 Jan 1997 (2) L Springs Pay Lake, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

Winter 1998-1999 (2) Pickett and eastern Clay counties (fide Robbie C. Hassler).

17 & 23 January/12 February 1999 (9/1) Thurston's Pond, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo).

Winter 1999-2000 (3) Pickett and eastern Clay counties (fide Robbie C. Hassler). 

15 February 2000 (2 adults) pond on Rt. 62 c. 12 km east of Monterey, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Stedman 2006-2009).

4 December 2000 (1) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer photo).

December 2000/January 2001 (8/7) Clay/Pickett counties, Tennessee (Robbie C. Hassler). 

23 January/29 January, 4 & 7 February 2001 (1/1) Pumphouse Pond/Twin Lakes, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

21 January 2001 (2 adults) Locust Grove Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Stedman 2006-2009), a Winter Roadside Survey record.

7-11 January 2002 (1--adult) Lake Canterbury, Fairfield Glade, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Carol Campbell photo, Stephen J. Stedman photo, Winston A. Walden).

28 December 2002/26 January 2003 (8/several) Granville, Jackson County, Tennessee (Tommy L. Curtis, Virginia Curtis/Carol D. Williams photo and unpubl. data).

14-17 February 2003 (8) Lillydale, Dale Hollow Lake, Clay County, Tennessee (Terry M. Campbell), probably the same swans as noted in previous record.

2 February 2004 (2) Lee's Ford Dock, Fishing Creek, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

11 & 14 February 2004 (8) Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton et al.). 

27 December 2004/22 January 2005 (21--including 1 juvenile/4--age not recorded) Cooley's Pond, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton, Connie S. Neeley, Stephen J. Stedman/Roseanna M. Denton), a CBC record [on first date].

22 January & 15 February 2005 (2) Conley Bottoms, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

18 December 2005 (3) Cedar Hill Resort, Dale Hollow Lake, Clay County, Tennessee (fide Terry M. Campbell unpubl. data).

20 December 2005/7 January 2006 (7) Cooley's Pond, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton), a CBC record.

23/25 December 2005/12 January 2006 (5--3 adults and 2 immatures) Livingston Reservoir, Overton County, Tennessee (Ginny Morton, King Morton/Stephen J. Stedman/Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

24/27 December 2005 (3--adults) Moss Island, Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee, (Stephen J. Stedman, Carol D. Williams/Stephen J. Stedman, Margo Hinkle), a CBC record on latter date.

24 December 2005-6 February 2006 (1) Twin Lakes, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton), a CBC record (in part--31 December 2005).

12 January 2006 (4--adults) near Obey River Recreation Area, Dale Hollow Lake, Pickett County, Tennessee,  (Stephen J. Stedman, Craig Norris, Ben Gore).

12 January 2006 (3--adults) Sulfur Creek, Dale Hollow Lake, Clinton County, Kentucky (Sondra Carmen).

5/17 February 2006 (19/4) Cumberland River near Holleman's Bend Rd., Jackson County, Tennessee (Carol D. Williams  photo and unpubl. data/Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

16 February 2006 (1) L Spring Pay Lake, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

18 February 2006 (1) Fishing Creek, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton, C. Gay Hodges, Arlene M. Morton), a Great Backyard Bird Count record.

20 February 2006 (1) Vaughn Rd., DeKalb County, Tennessee (Judy C. Fuson, Carol D. Williams photo), a Great Backyard Bird Count record.

16 January 2007 (2) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer photo and unpubl. data).

21/23/25 February 2007 (12) Rt. 53 c. 1 km east of Gainesboro city limit, Jackson County, Tennessee (Danny Stone fide Terry M. Campbell/Heather Gothard photo/Nancy S. Layzer, James Layzer).

15 December 2008 (1) General Burnside Island State Park, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

16 January 2009 (4) Boat ramp at Barren River Lake State Resort Park, Barren County, Kentucky (Lisa Deavers photo).

25 January/8 February 2009 (4--2 adults and 2 immatures) pond on Mason Grissom Rd./pond on Rt. 287 c. 0.5 km south of intersection with Rayburn-Walling Rd., both Warren County, Tennessee (N. P. "Mac" McWhirter unpubl. data/Edmund K. LeGrand, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

9-22 March 2009 (1-3) Dixon Springs, Smith County, Tennessee (Faith Young fide Fran Rutkovsky, Harold Tinsley photo, Stephen J. Stedman photo [21 March 2009]).

Out-of-Season Records:

19 August 2006 (1) Cooley's Pond, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

15 May 2008 (1) Fishing Creek, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

27 May 2008 (1) Pulaski County Park, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

10 June 2008 (1) Fishing Creek Recreation Area, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

22 July 2008 (1) General Burnside Island State Park, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Fall: 4 December 2000 (1; Barren County, Kentucky; David L. Roemer photo); but see also Out-of-Season Records.

    Late Spring: 5 April 1995 (1 adult; Putnam County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman photo; Stedman 2006-2009), but see also Out-of-Season Records.

Breeding: No breeding by wild individuals confirmed but strongly suspected in the Dale Hollow Lake area; captive pairs confirmed to be breeding within the Region but whether and/or how much these contribute to the free-flying population unknown.

Habitat: Quite small to quite large bodies of water with submergent vegetation, at least if a stay of any length occurs.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: no registrations.

Remarks: Considered a pest in some parts of its expanding range in consequence of its high productivity and its ability to change the composition and abundance of aquatic vegetation in ponds where it resides; highly aggressive toward all other species on the territorial pond during the nesting cycle.

Four unidentified swans, possibly of this species, were present on a pond near the Central View community, White County, Tennessee, 30 January & 2 February 2004 (DAD).

Two swans, thought to be hybrid Mute X Trumpeter Swans, were noted 8 January 2008 at General Burnside Island State Park, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo).

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying data about this species, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited