Orange swans

Irish Guitarist

I live in Carlow and over the last few months I've noticed that some of the swans have an orange colour on their feathers. I've contacted the ISPCA about this but I never got a reply. Does anyone know who I could contact about this? I've noticed that the swans have tags on their ankles so I assume someone is interested in their welfare.

Here's a link to an article about a similar problem. The swans here have more of a pink appearance, but apart from that they look like the orange swans I've seen in the Barrow. http://theroyalwindsorforum.yuku.com/forum/viewtopic/id/630

By the way, if you're not interested in this and you couldn't care less about swans please don't respond off-topic. I'd appreciate not getting comments about how stupid I am to care about swans when there's a recession going on...

fryup

They're Protestant swans from the north

gerky

I'd try contacting birdwatch Ireland, here are the contact details,

BirdWatch Ireland
P.O. Box 12
Greystones
Co. Wicklow
Ireland

Tel: 353 (0)1 2819878
Fax: 353 (0)1 2810997
E-mail: info@birdwatchireland.ie

If nothing else they should be able to put you in contact with someone, and if you can't get any help there try the National Parks and wildlife Service, here are the contact details.

National Parks & Wildlife Service
7 Ely Place
Dublin 2
IRELAND
tel: +353-1-8882000
fax: +353-1-8883272
LoCall 1890 202 021 (from Republic of Ireland only)

District Conservation Officer:
(Carlow, Kilkenny & Wexford) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(056) 7722135

e-mail: natureconservation@environ.ie
web: www.npws.ie & www.environ.ie
Designated Nature Conservation Areas Freephone Helpline: 1800 405 000 (from Republic of Ireland only)

Irish Guitarist

Thanks for the help gerky.

Kess73

Was the orange/pink on the swans something similar in colour to what is on the head and neck of this mute swan?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swan_with_nine_cygnets_3.jpg

tricky D

Kess73 wrote: »

Was the orange/pink on the swans something similar in colour to what is on the head and neck of this mute swan?

If it is like this, it's likely to be just disclouration due to feeding on a riverbed with high peat and/or iron content which is consistent with the Carlow area.

Kess73

tricky D wrote: »

If it is like this, it's likely to be just disclouration due to feeding on a riverbed with high peat and/or iron content which is consistent with the Carlow area.

Yep, that was the line I was going to take.

Irish Guitarist

Kess73 wrote: »

Was the orange/pink on the swans something similar in colour to what is on the head and neck of this mute swan?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swan_with_nine_cygnets_3.jpg

The colour is usually more like the swans in this picture http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/swans/images/AffectedWindsorSwans400.jpg
It's usually around the tail or wing area, although the other day I noticed a swan with a large bright orange patch (about the size of the bottom of a teacup) in just one area of his wing.

Irish Guitarist

Kess73 wrote: »

Was the orange/pink on the swans something similar in colour to what is on the head and neck of this mute swan?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swan_with_nine_cygnets_3.jpg

Looking at the link I originally gave again, I think the pink colour on those swans and the orange colour I saw are pretty much the same but it looked different to me on the computer than it did in real life.

Kess73

Defo disclouration in the second pic you showed there. Is pretty common in certain stretches of water