Yes swans fly. This may be a juvenile bird whose parents have told it to get lost and it is looking for its own habitat or mate. It may also be using your pond as a stopover on the migratory path. Soon, birds will begin the long flight to their wintering grounds. In the spring, the birds will return back to their nesting habitats. The stopovers are used by the birds to rest and feed before completing the final leg of their journey. So, look for the swan to leave in the very near future.

Now, having said this, if the swan is someone's captive swan, it may not be able to fly. If this is the case, the bird needs to be housed in a safe habitat indoors. If the swan stays on the pond during severe inclement weather, it could die from drowning by being trapped in the ice, freeze, starve, die from dehydration or stress or be attacked on a frozen pond by predators.

If the bird does not leave regardless of being wild or captive, and needs to be captured and housed for the winter, you need to be careful of who you ask to help the birds. Many states and their wildlife officials are killing the Mute Swans based upon no scientific research. Their goal is to kill all Mute Swans so they can free up habitats so that they can introduce the larger Trumpeter Swans for Trophy Waterfowl hunting purposes. If your state adheres to this practice, we strongly suggest taxpayers to contact their politicians and media to stop the practice. Mute Swans are native species and are not invasive as stated by wildlife entities. The Mute Swans are good for the environment because they alert scientists to the presence of heavy metals such as copper and lead and harmful microorganisms. So, the birds are a Sentinel species. If we lose this early warning system, it could be detrimental to the environment. To follow our fight to prevent the killing of these magnificent creatures, please go to The Regal Swan Foundation's Facebook page. The Regal Swan