Where Do The Swans Go in the Winter?

Cemeterians with a lake or pond on their property sometimes have swans. They are pretty and they attract visitors. nd, if you have swans in a four-season area of the country, you’ve probably had people asking your staff what happens to the swans during the winter. Do they fly south for the winter, like the geese and ducks, and return in the spring? Do they live only one season, to be replaced by a new pair the following year?

emeterians with a lake or pond on their property sometimes have swans. They are pretty and they attract visitors. 
And, if you have swans in a four-season area of the country, you’ve probably had people asking your staff what happens to the swans during the winter. Do they fly south for the winter, like the geese and ducks, and return in the spring? Do they live only one season, to be replaced by a new pair the following year?
Michigan Memorial Park, Flat Rock, Michigan, has a resident pair of swans, Bella and Bordeaux, and is definitely in a four-season zone.
MMP President Kelly Dwyer recently addressed the issue by sending out a press release entitled “Where do the swans go in the winter?”

If your property has swans, this is something you might want to do, especially if you have a friendly reporter or assignment editor who is looking for “feel-good” stories to cover. There are a number of other things you can do to get some good publicity from your swans:

• Have a “swan cam” linked to your website (especially if cygnets are due).
• Feature them in your newsletter
• Post photos and news about them on your Facebook page
• Create an educational program for children, adults or both, about them—and perhaps other wildlife in and around your lake or pond—as a way to bring people into your park.

The swan press release

For inspiration, here is the release Michigan Memorial Park sent out:

“Where do the swans go in the winter?”
Would you believe this is the most frequently asked question at Michigan Memorial Park?

Kelly Dwyer, president of Michigan Memorial Park tells us, “for as long as we can remember, we have been asked this question, by thousands of visiting families.”
The answer is simple. The two swans, Bella and Bordeaux, are very well cared for in their custom-built swan house located in the Michigan Memorial Park maintenance area, tucked away in a private corner of the property. The park’s personnel love them, feed them and provide fresh water for them, seven days a week.

The swan house is approximately 8 feet wide by 8 feet deep and up to 10 feet high.  It is aluminum-sided, has a shingled roof and comes complete with hay. The house is also equipped with a  sliding window that locks, inside electricity for a heat lamp and their very own heated pool. During extreme temperatures, they are brought inside the heated maintenance building at the park.

Bella and Bordeaux are caught every winter when the front pond freezes over.  It usually takes about seven people to help capture them to get them to their swan house. They are both released into the front pond in the spring.

Some interesting facts about Michigan Memorial Park’s swans:

• Since opening in 1926, Michigan Memorial Park has always had a pair of swans.
• At one time there was a black pair of swans named Bert and Bart.
• The oldest swan was named Annie; she lived to be approximately 30 years old. She went through three mates but never had a baby (cygnet).
• Many years ago, MMP did have a cygnet, but unfortunately it was killed by an animal that lurked nearby.
• One of the past pairs of swans were named Sema and Terry, named by an MMP employee through a naming contest.
• The current swans, Bella and Bordeaux, are approximately 3-4 years old and will hopefully have cygnets in the next couple of years.
• Most importantly, everyone at MMP loves their swans and takes exceptional care of them. Michigan Memorial Park is located at 32163 Huron River Dr in Huron Township next to Michigan Memorial Funeral Home. It’s located on 290 acres and has approximately 80,000 burials. For more information please call 734.782-2473 or visit www.MiMemorial.com.