Once the cygnets reach 6-8 months of age, their feathers and wings are fully developed so they can fly. Once this occurs, the juvenile swans are also large enough to protect themselves from predators, their parents have taught them how to be a swan, what is a predator and how to evade them and other important life lessons.

The young birds will then begin staying away from their parents. Think of an overnight sleepover at the neighbors house as the young get older and learn to visit and explore other areas without their parents hanging around supervising what they can and cannot do. If you have teenagers, you will understand this concept. The young birds learn how to spend nights away from the parents, feed in other areas and learn how to survive alone.

September is the normal migration time and the parents will begin flying the young swans around the perimeter of their habitat to teach them their location. Once migration is fully underway, the parents will gather the cygnets, meet up with other swans along the migration flyway and begin the flight south to the winter habitats. The young birds will be taught the migratory path, the stopovers to gather energy, eat, rest and then, where to stay during the severe cold months. The wintering grounds will also allow all of the juvenile swans to meet and play with other juveniles, pair up and form bonds to begin their new families upon the return to the nesting grounds. Once springtime arrives, the parents along with the juveniles will fly back to the nesting grounds and everyone will go their separate ways to form new families and seek out new habitats. The Regal Swan
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