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Swan Winter Behavior
Name: Katy H.
Status: educator
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1/13/2003
Question:
One member of a pair of mature female swans living on a
nearby pond recently died, and a younger female swan was purchased to
replace her. The two seem to be getting along. The new, young swan, I
notice will lay on the bank of the pond and look dead, with her neck lying
flat on the ground. The groundskeeper says she does this to preserve
energy in the cold winter weather. It is December 20 in South Jersey, and
pretty cold here. My question is this: Is the animal under any undue
distress by exhibiting this behavior, and if so, is there anything that
can be done to her environment that would be of any help? Thanks for
getting back to me about this.
Replies:
I have never heard of this kind of behavior and none of my references
mentions
it, but that does not necessarily mean it cannot happen. Generally the ground
is cold and birds, like other creatures, need to keep their extremities
warm, so heads and necks are usually tucked in rather than spread out to
preserve warmth.
J. Elliott
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Update: June 2012
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