Ask the Swan Specialist

In Response To: Re: Do male swans usually swim in front of the female? (The Regal Swan)

Hi Ramona:

There is no 100% guaranteed way of just looking at a swan and determining the gender. You could have two males, two females or a male and female. The order of going around the pond does not necessarily mean that the lead swan is a male. In fact, the female swan can go to the opposite side of the pond, only to have the male follow her. We have seen female swans with large knobs and males with smaller knobs, even though this is not the norm. The same anomaly can also be found in gender sizes.

There are two ways to determine the sex of a swan. One is to probe, but if the swan is a juvenile, the sex organs may not be visible due to the fact that the organs are underdeveloped. This form of sex determination is not that reliable for this reason and has caused many a swan owner to inadvertently purchase a swan gender that they did not specifically want.

The most reliable means to determine gender is to take blood or feather samples and send them to reliable certified veterinary lab for DNA Sequencing. We hope this information is of benefit. The Regal Swan
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