Whooper swans now opting for threesome

Women are to be allowed drive cars in Saudi Arabia and a cinema may open there shortly. A paper in the Turkish Journal of Zoology, suggests that the ultra-conservative whooper swan may also be “loosening up”.

Whoopers visit Ireland in winter, moving about in noisy flocks. However, on returning to Iceland in spring, their behaviour changes; each breeding pair establishes an exclusive territory, off limits to other swans. Intruders aren’t tolerated.

In about 9% of bird species, pairs get help from others when raising their young. House martins, for example, fledge two broods from mud-cup nests under the eves of Irish buildings.