Swans are the largest birds in the UK, with impressively powerful wings. If they’re protecting their nest, they can be particularly aggressive and hostile towards people, hissing, pecking and flapping their wings – so it’s worth giving them a wide berth.
The spring nesting season runs from April to June, so it’s worth giving them an even wider berth during these months, when they will be more territorial around their nests.
Children have long been told to stay away from swans, as they can break your arm with their wing. But is that actually true?
Can a swan break your arm?
While swans are very powerful birds, it's very unlikely that a swan could directly break your arm unless you have brittle bones or are a child. But that’s not to say you couldn’t injure yourself as a result of being hit by a swan – if a swan hits you and you fall over, you could very easily break an arm!
In 2012, Anthony Hensley was killed after a swan made his boat capsize in Des Plaines, just outside Chicago.
Carl Tyler from Boston asked this question in the Guardianand was met with a slew of entertaining responses. Several people claimed that they knew people to whom this had happened. Alistair Morris from Billericay’s grandmother had her arm broken by a swan, but she suffered from brittle bones, while Thomas Offing from Agness in the US was bitten on the foot by a swan when he was a child. Whether or not these stories are true is up for debate!
- Bird migration guide: which species migrate and where do they go?
- Wading birds guide: nine long-legged waterbirds to look out for this winter
Top image: Two whooper swans fighting as other swans look on in a pond in Reykjavík, Iceland (credit: Getty Images)