Readers’ letter: The swans in Skogsdammen

The swans in Skogsdammen: Put the nesting platform back!

The last two years there have been mute swans nesting in Skogsdammen. In an article published in Tuntreet (10/3) there is a claim that the pond is not suited for these birds because the young are dying, partly because they are hit by cars on the nearby road, and partly because they are caught by pikes. This argumentation is worth having a closer look at. First a little “mute swan history”: Significantly, as a result of hunting, the population of mute swans in the 1920s was reduced to a minimum in Scandinavia. In 1925 there were only 3-4 couples in Denmark. After the swans were protected and probably also because of milder winters, the populations have increased. In 1966 there were 2740 nesting couples of mute swans in Denmark. This means a total autumn population of 25 000-30 000 birds, non-nesting young birds included.

Since 1966 the population has expanded immensely throughout Scandinavia. Today all the suitable nesting biotopes (eutrophic lakes) are occupied by established and strictly territorial birds. What is happening now is that also marginal biotopes are being used. Skogsdammen is one of these marginal biotopes, partly because the pond itself is small in comparison to the bird’s nutritional needs, and because there is a lot of human disturbances. The latter is something the birds get used to over time. Mute swans have a big reproduction potential considering their big size. Often it can get up to 6-7 cygnets under good conditions. But the portion of nesting couples, together with litter size and cygnet mortality, is affected negatively by todays dense populations, and this is especially prominent in marginal biotopes. This is the reason why the swans in Skogsdammen only produced three cygnets in 2019 and one in 2020. In 2019 two cygnets disappeared right after hatching. I have no information stating that they were hit by a car. If the pikes in the pond are big enough to catch a cygnet is unknown, they might just as well have died in other ways. The cygnet in 2020 managed to survive despite of cars and possible pikes.

By removing the nesting platform, one will not achieve anything other than the swans finding another marginal biotope (and pikes are everywhere). A great and successful effort was put in place both to the advantage of the swans and people’s enjoyment by arranging the nesting platform in Skogsdammen. It should be reinstalled, if not private then supervised by the university (the park). A potential, occasional sighting of a big white bird with young on or close to the road should be possible to handle by drivers going 40-50 km/ hour. It is also not necessary to feed the cygnet during autumn as it is meant to fly away. One more thing: the swans keep Skogsdammen free from waterweed!

Sofie Palmstrøm Translator

Olav Hjeljord

Stillingsannonser

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