Swan won’t leave nest

[Lynn Early]

Hello. We have a mating pair of swans. The eggs were not viable this year so we removed them from the nest. After several weeks the female will still not leave the empty nest except rarely to eat. How do we encourage her to leave the nest?
Thank you.

[Swan Expert]

Hi Lynn

Did you recheck the nest for any new eggs? If something happens to the first eggs, females can count and will replace the eggs through what is known as double-clutching. The problem with double-clutching is that a female birds lose approximately 30% of her energy levels during egg laying. Now, your bird may be exhausted or further stressed. This is why we tell people not to remove any eggs. If eggs are not viable, the female will leave the nest on her own.

Now, if she has more eggs, you will need to leave the eggs until she knows they are not viable. If she feels the slightest heart beat, she will continue sitting.

If there are no eggs in the nest and she is still sitting, then once she leaves for eating, we would suggest you remove the nest so she does not return. The Regal Swan

[Victoria Hicks]

So glad to find this site. We are seeing a similar situation and it is breaking our hearts. The mom has been on this nest since March 31. At that time there were at least three eggs. A month later there was one egg and now we have seen no eggs at all. The nest is becoming smaller and smaller each day. It was a work of art that both swans could fit on a month ago or so. Her mate stays close by fishing usually. She rarely leaves the nest. She is panting a lot. We have written to a wildlife rehab contact in the area and they tell us to let nature take its course. Thank you for any advice.

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