Swans are elegant waterfowl known for their grace and beauty. They spend the majority of their time floating on the water or swimming in lakes, ponds, and rivers. Swans perform a variety of behaviors and activities in the water that are essential to their health, development, and survival.
Swimming and Paddling
Swans spend most of their time in water paddling around lakes and ponds or slowly swimming along rivers. Their webbed feet allow them to paddle efficiently on the water’s surface. Swans use their feet like paddles to propel themselves forward through the water. They alternate moving their webbed feet in a motion that resembles walking or running. This allows them to swim and steer smoothly across the water.
Swans are also able to swim underwater to feed on aquatic vegetation and search for food along the pond or lakebed. They use their long necks to reach deep below the water’s surface while tipping their bodies vertically. Swans can remain underwater for several minutes before having to return to the surface for air.
Feeding and Foraging
Swans spend much of their time in water foraging for food. Aquatic plants make up the majority of a swan’s diet. They use their long necks to reach below the water and pull up stems, leaves, and roots of plants. Common foods include algae, water lilies, hydrilla, wild rice, and milfoil. Swans will also graze on land to eat grasses and agricultural crops.
In addition to vegetation, swans will feed on small aquatic invertebrates like snails, insect larvae and tadpoles. They use their beaks to grasp food items underwater. Swans may also tip or plunge their head under water to capture food along the bottom sediment. Feeding usually occurs in shallow areas where plants grow and food is within reach from the surface.
Resting and Sleeping
Swans have adapted the ability to rest and sleep efficiently on the water. They tuck their feet and head in toward their bodies and allow their specialized feathers to hold them afloat. By positioning their bodies parallel to the water, swans can rest while minimizing exertion needed to stay buoyant.
Swans often sleep floating together in groups for safety and warmth. During times of high alert, they may sleep with one eye open to watch for potential predators. Swans can sleep both during the day and at night while drifting gently on the water’s surface.
Preening
Swans spend time preening and cleaning their feathers while in water. Preening involves using their beaks to distribute waterproofing oils over their feathers and realign any feathers that are out of place. The water helps swans spread the preen oil secreted from a gland near their tails to coat and maintain their feathers.
In addition to preening, swans will dip and flap their wings in water to wash away dirt or parasites. Maintaining clean and healthy feathers through preening and washing allows swans to retain body heat and remain waterproof and buoyant.
Interacting and Communicating
Swans often interact and communicate with each other vocally and physically while in water. Mated pairs will swim together, often crossing their necks over each other???s backs as a sign of bonding. Families swim together, with cygnets following closely behind their parents.
Swans use vocalizations and body postures while in water to interact and signal territory, dominance, aggression, or as a warning to predators. They may flap their wings or fan their tail feathers to appear larger and more threatening in the water when defending territories or offspring.
Mating and Nesting
Swans will engage in mating rituals in water during breeding season. Courting pairs will swim closely face-to-face, bobbing and calling to each other. The pen (female) will dip her head and lift her rear, while the cob (male) will swim around and gently fold his wings over her back. This mating sequence helps form pair bonds that sometimes last for life.
Although swans nest and lay their eggs on land along shorelines, they enter water to collect wetland vegetation for nest building. Swans carefully fold over stems, leaves and sticks while afloat in water, carrying bundles under their bodies and up onto land to construct large, sturdy nests.
Escaping Predators
Swans rely on water for safety and quick escapes from predators. If danger approaches on land, swans will rapidly run across the ground and take flight from the water’s surface. Their heavy bodies and slow liftoff make it impossible to take off from land.
Once in water, swans are able to swiftly swim or dive to avoid predators. Their agile swimming enables a rapid getaway out of reach from the threats of land animals. Swans may also vocalize loudly to warn their flock while hurriedly herding cygnets across the water to safety.
Migration
Some swan populations migrate long distances between breeding and wintering grounds. They spend weeks or months traveling these routes by flying and making stops on lakes and rivers to rest and feed. While migrating over land, swans lose the ability to forage for food, so making these water stops is critical.
During migration, swans rely heavily on water habitats along their flyways to provide safe resting areas. Lakes, rivers and ponds allow them to swim and access food resources needed to continue their strenuous seasonal journeys between habitats.
Molting
Swans lose and re-grow their flight feathers every year in a process called molting. They undergo a simultaneous wing molt, or shed all their flight feathers at once, leaving them unable to fly for several weeks. This happens after nesting season, when they must stay in water and avoid going on land.
During molting, swans are extremely vulnerable since they cannot escape predators or other threats by flying. They must swim and seek safety on water, where they are more able to flee and hide from danger until new flight feathers grow in.
Thermoregulation
The water helps regulate swans’ body temperatures, allowing them to conserve energy. Swans have fewer sweat glands than other birds, so they can overheat easily out of water. By floating and swimming, swans are able to stay cool during hot weather. Their legs have a Heat Exchange System (HES) of circulating arteries and veins that provides temperature regulation.
Swans fluff their feathers and expose areas of skin on their feet to release excess heat when needed. If overheated, they will also open their wings and flap to circulate cooler air over their bodies. Their feet serve as vital organs for transferring body heat quickly in and out of the water.
Playing
Swans will occasionally engage in playful water activities, especially when young. Juvenile swans may practice synchronized swimming, racing and chasing each other on the pond’s surface. These water games help develop swimming skills and muscle coordination.
Swans also bathe in water for pleasure, extending their wings to splash water up over their backs. They seem to enjoy floating peacefully and making gentle ripples in the water as they clean and preen themselves.
Defending Territory
Swans are very territorial and use water habitats as their domains, which they will staunchly defend. The cob will threaten or even attack intruders entering his pond territory, charging across the water with wings raised to drive them off. Warnings include loud hissing and feather ruffling displays.
During breeding season, swan pairs will chase competitors out of the area surrounding their nest site. They run swiftly over water with wings spread, using the surface to gain speed and momentum for taking flight if needed to scare off intruders.
Caring for Cygnets
Young cygnets under three weeks old ride on their parent’s back for safety as they swim and forage. If the family is threatened, the parents use their wings to shelter the cygnets. As they get older, cygnets swim beside their parents in close formation under watchful protection.
Parents will gently feed cygnets pieces of aquatic vegetation by dipping their heads underwater to uproot plants, then handing it to them while afloat. This allows the young swans to learn feeding habits while staying buoyant near their parents.
Building Strength
Swans use water to build up muscle strength and stamina in their wings. They flap and beat their wings across the water’s surface to stay fit for flying. This also massages and conditions their feathers to maintain peak flight performance.
Swans may practice short vertical takeoffs from the water and brief hovering strides to get airborne. Doing wing exercises in water provides resistance without the swans needing to get fully airborne. It improves circulation and flexibility while conditioning their bodies for powered flight.
Conclusion
Swans have adapted in remarkable ways to life spent primarily on the water. They rely on bodies of fresh water not only for food and hydration, but for every aspect of their existence. Swans use water as a refuge for resting, nesting, migrating, rearing young, and avoiding terrestrial predators. Their specialized feathers, feet, and behaviors allow them to spend most of their time swimming, paddling and floating efficiently on lakes, ponds and rivers. By understanding how swans utilize water habitats, we gain greater appreciation for the natural beauty and elegance of these aquatic birds.
