Most definitely. They know you by sight and by sound and will become extremely friendly to anyone who offers them a tasty treat. However, we would strongly discourage hand feeding for several reasons.

1. If the swans become too friendly, they may start to walk up to anyone which is not good for the bird, especially if someone wants to do them harm. We just had such an incident at a facility we consult. Someone decided to get the swan to come to them and then beat it to death with a stick. It became too trusting.

2. Should the swan go after a young child for food, it can unintentionally bite fingers or poke eyes and faces. This would cause most people to insist that the swan be removed or even be killed for behavior that they would view as aggressive.

3. Swans need water to eat or they can choke. If the birds are coming out of the water and onto land to be hand-fed, they can actually choke on the food. Water is a major necessity in feeding.

We hope this helps. The Regal Swan
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