No, this is an old wives tale that mother's passed from generation to generation regarding the touching of young so that their children would leave wildlife alone. Birds do not have the sense of smell that mammals have and therefore, smelling a human's scent is not really relevant. The major problem is that if the cygnet is transported away from the parents for any length of time, or injured while the parents try to protect it from human intervention, the cygnet may be abandoned or killed so that a human cannot access the injured cygnet.

The major issue is why anyone wants to touch the cygnet. This intrusive touching can cause great harm to the human as the swans are very protective of their young and they will aggressively defend their cygnets by biting or flailing with their powerful wings. If a swan's wing should hit a human's arm, legs or ribs, there is a possibility, depending on the size of the human, (children are more susceptible), the size of the swan and the angle of the strike, that broken bones can be the result. The Regal Swan