Page 105 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

Swan, Whistling

(Cygnus bewickii)

The body length is 120 cm. The plumage of adults is white, but the abdomen constantly in
contact with water, the head and neck often acquire a reddish bloom. The yellow color at the
base of the beak occupies only a small part of it (no more than a third of the length of the beak
or less). There are individuals in which a black stripe along the beak reaches the forehead.
Young swans have a smoky gray color, with a brownish head and neck, their beak is one-color,
yellowish.
Prefers plant foods, algae and ground herbs, berries. Also, swans will not refuse such
delicacies as invertebrates and small fish.
The nesting part of the range covers the territory of Northern Eurasia from the Kola
Peninsula to the east to the Chukotka Peninsula, to the south to the northern regions of the
forest-tundra. In the Far East, nests on the coast of the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas to the
east to the Kolyuchinskaya Bay. Winters on the Japanese Islands, the south of the Korean
Peninsula and in the eastern regions of China. During migration occurs in all areas of the
Sakhalin region

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