Dear Regal Swan folks,
I have many questions about swan behaviour and I hope that you can help.

For several years I have been watching a pair of swans that live quite near my house in downtown Toronto (Canada). The pair recently raised a family together and since the cygnets fledged and left, the two have been inseparable — always seen together, within a few metres of each other all the time.

Yesterday, I witnessed a strange occurrence and have been puzzling over it ever since. When I got to the bay yesterday, there were three mute swans where usually there are our two. Moments later, one of the swans began attacking another one, then these two flew further out into the bay, where with binoculars I was able to see the huge fight as the attacker tried to drown the other one.

The fight ended up near the shore where I was standing. By this time, the female, Penny, was right beside the victor as he sat on top of the losing swan, pinning him to the muddy ground by the shore. Penny did not do anything to help either the winner or loser.

The defeated swan disappeared and the victor and the third swan, (who I think is the female, Penny, I have been watching all these years) were left. Immediately after winning the battle, the victor and Penny did an elaborate dance with their necks, which looked for all the world like choreographed ballet.

I am terribly confused. The swan that won the battle does not look like Penny’s long-term mate, Tycho. Would she just switch allegiance like that and immediately bond with the winner, rather than going off with her vanquished mate, Tycho? If her old mate, Tycho, was pinned on the ground by the victorious swan, would she not have pecked at his back to help free him?

About an hour after the battle, I saw Penny and the victor in the parking lot where she and Tycho have been hanging out, begging for food, all winter.…They both have no fear of people or cars. If the victor in the fight was a stranger, not Tycho, wouldn’t he be afraid to be so close to cars and people?

There is the possibility that I am wrong, of course. I am basing my identification on a couple of things. Tycho had a smaller knob on his beak than the victor of the fight. Also, Tycho holds his neck differently than the victor.

I thought swans more or less mated for life, unless they were unsuccessful at raising a successful brood. I am just flabbergasted that Penny would switch mates in what boils down to a 15-minute battle. Is this possible, in your experience, or is it very unlikely that she would do that.

Is it only males that fight?

How fast does the knob on a male mute swan’s beak enlarge…Could it happen in a day or two?

I'm attaching a picture. The female, I believe Penny, is on the right. I think it is her old mate Tycho on the bottom, far left. And the victor? is in the centre, biting Tycho on the neck. You can see the large difference in the size of the swelling on the two males' beaks.

I thank you in advance for any information that could help clear up this mystery.

Yours truly,
Lou in Toronto