A large white bird with a curved neck and an orange bill that looks like it was coated in wax. The mute swan is elegant from a distance. Up close, it is large, aggressive, and surprisingly heavy. It does not want you close. It will make that clear. The name "mute" is misleading. The bird is not silent. It hisses. It grunts. It makes a range of snorting noises. It just does not honk like other swans. A mute swan hissing is warning you. Heed it. It feeds on aquatic plants, grazing on submerged vegetation. It upends like a duck, tail in the air, head underwater. It also grazes on grass when the weather is cold. A versatile feeder. The bill is orange with a black knob at the base. The knob is larger in males. It grows with age. An old male has a prominent knob. He has earned it. Mute swans are not native. They were introduced from Europe as ornamental waterfowl. Some escaped. Some were released. They have never established a truly wild population. The birds you see are semi-tame, living on lakes and ponds in parks and private estates. They breed in spring, nesting on a large mound of vegetation. The nest is built by the female. The male stands guard. He does not help with construction. He watches. The cygnets are grey and fluffy, riding on the female's back. They stay with the parents for six months. A long childhood for a bird. The flight is heavy and ponderous. A mute swan taking off runs across the water, wings beating, feet slapping. It gains speed slowly. It looks like it might not make it. It always does. In New Zealand, mute swans are rare. A few hundred birds, scattered around the North Island. They are not a threat to native birds. They are just there. The call is a series of grunts and hisses. It is not musical. It does not need to be. The mute swan is a symbol of elegance in European culture. In New Zealand, it is an exotic curiosity. A visitor that stayed.