{"id":3232,"date":"2015-04-08T09:51:38","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T13:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=3232"},"modified":"2021-01-14T21:00:28","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T02:00:28","slug":"tundra-swan-versus-mallards-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/tundra-swan-versus-mallards-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"Ticked Tundra Swan Takes on Measly Mallards in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

This winter, I had a chance to finally see a Tundra Swan up close<\/strong><\/a>. A single Tundra Swan was sheltering from the winter ice in an open water channel near Unwin Street in Toronto. It was far from alone, however. The channel was also housing hundreds of Mallards, dozens of Redheads and Canada Geese, and a few handfuls of Common Goldeneye, Greater Scaup, Mergansers and Trumpeter Swans. A few Mute Swans and a male Pintail duck also inhabited the small space. When I arrived to take some photos, I got some great views of the Tundra Swan taking out its feelings on some apparently innocent Mallards.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t Man the Only Creature that Enjoys Hurting Others?<\/h2>\n

It may not be clear from the photos but these attacks were not always as funny as they seemed. The Swan was actually pretty intent and very aggressive. It appeared it would be happy if it could pull the tail off a duck or hold it underwater. Fortunately, the Mallards had a great respect for its greater size and strength and made sure to get out of the way quickly if the Swan attacked.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Did the Tundra Swan Attack the Mallards?<\/h2>\n

I spent a bit of time wondering why the Tundra Swan was so upset with the Mallards. I could not find any conclusion but I considered several factors:<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n