Welcome to Word of the Week! Stay tuned for a new word each week to amp up your nature vocabulary!
The word of the week is cygnet [cyg-nught] (noun): a young swan
We all know about ducklings and goslings, but we rarely hear about this word for swan babies. High Park is home to two species of swans — mute swans and trumpeter swans. Mute and trumpeter swans can be differentiated by the color of their bills — mute swans having a orange-reddish bill, while their trumpeter cousins having a black bill.
Juvenile swan bills, however, are almost exactly the opposite. Mute swan cygnets have a black bill which eventually turns orange-reddish when they mature, while trumpeter swan cygnets have a pinkish bill which turns black on maturity.
Sources: High Park Nature, The Trumpeter Swan Society
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