Great question. Our veterinarians and researchers have worked with swans for more than 40 years. Through daily handling and necropsies, we have never seen a vestigial claw on the wing of any swan, male, female, adult or cygnet.

Some birds do have these claws, but many will lose them by the time they reach adulthood.

Swans will use their wings to flail and hit in a defensive manner. In the larger swan species, Trumpeters, Whooper, Mutes, their wingspans can reach 6-7 feet in length. The shear strength in the wings can actually break a man's arm, leg or ribs if the wing strikes a part of the body at the wrong angle. It is similar to having a man's fist hit you.

Now, you might ask how we know it feels like a man's fist. NO, we did not get into fights to find this out. We would softly have our researchers double their fists and SOFTLY strike at open hands to see if we could emulate the striking power. What we found, is that the swan strikes by using small quick bursts and driving through the punch so that the blow's impact was increased.

Even if a swan had a claw, it would not have the impact that the full wing has. We hope that this information helps you. The Regal Swan