Hobbies And Interests
Bay Grass
Mute swans eat mostly bay grasses. Also known as submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), bay grasses are plants that live underwater. The green and long leaves that grow up from grass beds flow along with the water movement. The mute swan tips itself upside down to eat the bay grass. A single adult mute swan can consume up to 8 lbs. of bay grass in one day. The mute swan's large consumption of bay grass is a concern for some locations, such as the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Bay grass is an important ecosystem in itself because it provides a home to other animals, including seahorses and crabs, and produces oxygen. In order to protect its bay grasses, Maryland's Fish and Wildlife Services tries to curb its mute swan population through euthanasia, sterilization and relocation.
Grains and Greens
While mute swans mostly eat bay grasses, they also graze on grains and short-cropped grasses that they run across while on land. Some communities that do not have a mute swan overpopulation problem feed them various grains and vegetables during cold winters to make up for the lack of bay grasses. Mute swans that live in urban ponds and lakes are sometimes fed corn, wheat, lettuce and spinach..
Bread
Mute swans in urban areas also eat bread thrown into the water by humans. Mold is poisonous to mute swans, so only fresh bread should be provided. Humans who feed mute swans should throw the items into the water to prevent them from coming ashore and possibly causing harm to themselves and others. While mute swans can and will eat bread, it is not a substitute for a proper diet consisting mostly of bay grass.
Small animals
Mute swans also eat small animals that they run across while on the water and land. These include small fish, snails, tadpoles, frogs and various insects. Small mollusks and crustaceans are sometimes eaten when the mute swan eats the bay grass that they live in. Seahorses, pipefish and crabs are just some of the animals that supplement the mute swan's primary diet of bay grass.