Lake Eola’s swans
get plenty of TLC during the annual roundup to give them physicals.
One by one, the swans at Lake Eola Park had their turn on the scale Saturday, a few squawking in protest as volunteers recorded their weight.
“Twenty-one point eight [pounds],” announced Preston Hall, 37, as he and two other men held the bird in place.
The annual swan roundup, which has been held for a decade, is the bird equivalent of a person’s annual checkup.
Each of the 50 or so swans is examined, weighed, vaccinated and has its wings clipped so it doesn’t fly away and get injured, said Chris Wallace, Orlando’s cultural arts manager.
The birds each have a microchip, allowing their medical record to be maintained from year to year.
“The city owns the swans,” Wallace said. “We want to make sure they’re healthy.”
The iconic birds — Trumpeter, Black Neck, Whooper, Royal Mute and Australian Black swans — have lived at the park since 1923, he said. They’ve been a draw for photographers and animal lovers, and they inspired the design for the swan-shaped pedal boats available for rent.
Unwittingly, however, some visitors are harming the birds by feeding them bread, which is not a part of their natural diet, said City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who helped with the roundup.
Instead, people should offer lettuce or cracked corn from the feeders around the
lake, said Sheehan, who said she sought out the serenity and beauty of the park when she was a teenager. Quarters from the feeders pay for the birds’ medical care, according to the city website.
The roundup started about 7:45 a.m., when 35 kayakers from the Orlando Kayak Fishing Club herded the birds into a temporary wire pen at the east edge of the lake. Volunteers in waders scooped them from the water one by one as the swans trumpeted and flapped their wings in protest.
Some were more cantankerous than others, but once they were caught, most settled down enough to go from the microchip station to the scale to the vet’s table and back into the lake.
The chips have enabled the city to find swans that people occasionally swipe, Sheehan said.
“They’re pretty strong birds, but they’re docile once you pin the wings down,” said Cristian Michaels, a first-time volunteer and one of several men who plucked the swans from the water.
By the time Sheehan handed over the last swan about 11:15, the 20 volunteers, who arrived about 7 a.m., were ready to leave the park.
“Woo-hoo, that’s all of them,” someone said.
During the year, volunteers and city employees, keep an eye on the birds and their nests and make sure they are treated if they become ill or injured, Wallace said.
“We love our swans,” said volunteer Casey Freeman, 19, a Valencia College student.