In coastal S Carolina,we have an occasional swan population, but 1 stays here yr round alone. Ideas why?

Question

I've always heard/read that swans mate for life, but this one seems to be a loner and looks healthy for the most part. It had some blood on its wing earlier this year, but it seems fine now. Of course, I can't be certain that it's the same one, but for 3.5 years, I've been seeing a lone swan in the area. It will hang out with Canada geese, and I think that it hung out with a group of swans that I saw early this summer at a nearby state park beach because I missed it from its usual haunts. Now it's back in my condo neighborhood pond, hanging out with 5 young mallards. Are some swans just loners? Seeing him alone makes me feel sorry for him! I know that's silly, but I am very curious why this little one -- well, they are pretty big -- *seems* to be keeping to himself and never associating for any length of time with another swan or group of swans. Ideas?

Answer 1

Tundra swans migrate to the Carolinas from Canada each winter

The year round one is probably a mute swan, an introduced species from Europe. It's been in the northeast for decades, but has slowly been expanding thier range across North America