It’s always a welcome sight to see cygnets swimming in the Brockwell Park pond, and local photographer Martha Loves captured these lovely scenes yesterday.
The Swan Sanctuary has all the answers you need to your swan-related questions, like:
What do swans eat?
Swans living on fresh water will typically eat pondweed, stonewort and wigeon grass, as well as tadpoles and insects such as milfoil.
What can I feed swans?
If you want to feed swans then give them fresh bread (mould is poisonous to them), grain such as wheat or corn, and fresh greens such as lettuce or spinach. The food should be thrown onto the water so that they can swallow water with the food – feeding them on land is environmentally unsound and encourages the swans to leave the water whenever they see people which can bring them into harm from cars, dogs etc.
How long do the cygnets stay with their parents?
Typically 6 months.
Is it normal for the parents to be chasing their cygnets once they’re several months old?
Absolutely. Once the cygnets are old enough to look after themselves the parents cut the parental ties with them and chase them away, sometimes quite aggressively.
Where do cygnets go when they leave their parents?
They normally join the first flock of swans they encounter where they usually stay until they mature when about 4 years old.
Is it true that swans mate for life?
As a general rule this is true. If a mate is lost then the surviving mate will go through a grieving process like humans do, after which it will either stay where it is on its own, fly off and find a new stretch of water to live on (where a new mate may fly in and join it) or fly off and re-join a flock.
Can swans take off from land?
Yes, but they need at least 30 yards to become airborne and the same again to reach a safe height to clear surrounding obstructions such as houses.
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The use of the English language is really dropping, they are cygnets, plural of a cygnet (offspring of a Swan). A signet is a ring worn by a man
You’re quite correct and I have updated the title.
It’s a common mistake; https://www.shutterstock.com/search/signet-swan
I think you’ll find women can wear them too!
Robert’s use of the English language is really dropping 🙂 🙂