There is a possibility of several things occurring:

1. He has an ingrown feather, i.e. either a new feather is trying to come out or an old feather is trying to come out. He may be trying to work the feather out by using his beak as tweezers, but the feather may have broken off and he can't get to it. DO NOT try to pull the feather if you see it. You need to get him to an avian veterinarian or at least a veterinarian that can stop the bleeding if it is a blood feather. If you pull out a blood feather, he is going to bleed for while. The veterinarian can pull out the feather and use a nitrate swab to control the bleeding if this is the case.

2. He has a skin infection, something is stuck in his wing, itching skin, etc. Again, a veterinarian is needed to ascertain the condition. If a foreign object is embedded, the veterinarian can remove it and place the swan on antibiotics. It may be such a minor issue that an antibiotic injection and spray on the wing may be all that is needed. DO NOT USE any antibiotic ointments like Bactriban, etc. The oil in the ointment will get on the rest of his feathers and he will not be able to clean his feathers properly and the oily residue will prevent him from placing his natural oils on the feathers. The ointment will cause him to become less water repellent and he could drown.

If it is a skin condition, the veterinarian can take a skin scraping and see if there are mites or other parasites in the area and treat accordingly.

3. He is nervous and this is just a nervous habit like biting one's fingernails. However, we would rule out this unless you have seen him pull at feathers in a stressful situation or his environment, habitat, social situation (other swans chasing him, etc.) has changed. If this is the case, he may be stressed and this is he way of dealing with the stress. Even if this is the case, you still need to get him to a veterinarian as this pulling at the feathers can cause an infection. The veterinarian can assess the condition and may be able to alleviate the problem. We hope this information is beneficial. The Regal Swan