Swan unusual behavior (1 Viewer)

[xyz99]

I posted this on a different forum, but after almost 60 views, there is still no answer, so I hope everybody will forgive me for posting it here, too.

I recently returned from a trip to Switzerland. One day (in Thun) I witnessed an unusual (for me) incident. There’s a small lake in Thun – actually, part of a river, behind a dam – where lots of ducks and swans were present. Sometimes, people would feed the ducks, so feeding frenzies were common. There was definitely no lack of food for the birds.

At some point, one of the swans literally grabbed a sparrow from the edge of the water – he ended up eating the sparrow. It was so fast, but I managed a couple of pictures.

Is this a common thing? I thought swans eat aquatic vegetation, small fish and maybe a small frog…but a full size sparrow? Feathers and all?
It was pretty disturbing, I definitely look differently at swans now…

Was this is sick/crazy swan? Or is this normal behavior? Thanks

 

[KnockerNorton]

I'd need to check the literature, but I'd imagine that it's not been reported much before.

Incidently, the pinioned White Pelicans in London's St James' Park are well known for eating occasional birds, especially pigeons.

 

[neil brown]

not too sure for mute swan but records exsist for whooper swans attacking and killing other birds and sometimes eating them mallard and wigeon young for example. recorded in The Whooper Swan by mark brazil, though by all accounts it uncommon behavior

 

[KnockerNorton]

Mute Swans commonly kill other waterfowl when they have young - the chicks of ducks and geese regularly get it - but i don't recall any reports of them being eaten, off the top of my head. The drive in this case was clearly food, not territory or defence of the young, as killing of other waterfowl could be interpretted as.

 

[dantheman]

Opportunistic omnivority?? Interesting that normally species act within fairly tight and pre-constrained boundaries (including feeding behaviour). Often wonder why they don't do more 'out-of-character' behaviours. It's the more 'adventurous' species which have an advantage of course when conditions change (ie more 'adaptable') . . .

Interesting to see something different in some senses though, even if you found it a bit distasteful at the time . . .

 

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

I'm pretty sure some swans would have taken my fingers off were they not attached to my hand...that'll teach me to feed 'em chips

Jan

 

[xyz99]

Interesting, thanks a lot. It did not seem to be any lack of food there, with people constantly feeding then…but then, there were a lot of birds, ducks and swans. There was a pair of black swans, too – a lot more aggressive than the mute ones, and they seemed to be getting the most of the food.

 

[alan_rymer]

Frequently fed Mute Swans Sardines and Sprats when pike fishing, but never seen them take Mammals or birds. Wouldn't surprise me though.
Seen swans drowning young or weaker Swans in winter though, I believe it happens quite often.