Members of the Vintners’ and Dyers’ Companies use traditional Thames rowing skiffs in their five-day journey up-river Swan Upping brochure This historic ceremony dates from the twelfth century, when the Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans. Today, the Crown retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but The Queen only exercises her ownership on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries. This ownership is shared with the Vintners’ and Dyers’ Companies, who were granted rights of ownership by the Crown in the fifteenth century. Nowadays, of course, the swans are no longer eaten. |
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Swan Upping takes place in the third week of July each year. The cygnets are weighed and measured to obtain estimates of growth rates and the birds are examined for any sign of injury (commonly caused by fishing hooks and line). The swans are also given a health check and ringed with individual identification numbers by The Queen’s Swan Warden, the Professor of Ornithology at the University of Oxford’s Department of Zoology. The swans are then set free again. At the completion of Swan Upping each year, The Queen’s Swan Marker produces a report which provides data on the number of swans accounted for, including broods and cygnets. Vandalism and the theft of cygnets also create threats to the swan population. Apart from Swan Upping, The Queen’s Swan Marker has other duties. He advises organisations throughout the country on swan welfare and incidents involving swans such as vandalism. He works closely with swan rescue organisations and carries out the rescue of sick and injured swans, and he co-ordinates the temporary removal of swans from stretches of the Thames used for summer rowing regattas. The Queen Windsor Castle SUGGESTED LINKS |
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