A juvenile swan found in distress at night in the car park of Galway Shopping Centre last week highlighted the ‘housing crisis’ affecting local cygnets.

Mary Joyce Glynn of Galway and Claddagh Swan Rescue said juvenile swans – aged up to a year – who are ‘beat off’ by their parents, are finding it difficult to locate suitable feeding ground in Galway.

She asked the public to be vigilant and to call the charity if they encounter young stray swans lost on roads or car parks as the birds try to make their own way in the world.

It comes after members of the public alerted Galway and Claddagh Swan Rescue to a stressed juvenile swan at the shopping centre on the Headford Road at night last week.

Ms Joyce Glynn explained that the swan – possibly from Menlo – landed at the shopping centre during what was probably his first long flight alone after his parents chased him away.

It’s likely he was looking for a breeding ground, got exhausted and ‘had to land somewhere’.

“He was lucky he landed in a reasonably safe place, after the shops had closed. Some land on the motorway, mistaking it for a river, and that’s horrendous,” she said.

“The people who called were terrific because they stayed with the swan to contain it until we arrived,” she added.

The swan was distressed but not injured. Ms Joyce-Glynn explained swans can’t take off vertically and need to run about 100 metres uninterrupted by obstacles before they can take off – but “they don’t like taking off on roads because they can’t see where they are going so it’s very scary for them”.

After one night at Galway and Claddagh Swan Rescue at Lough Rusheen near Bearna, the rescued swan was relocated and released at Lough Corrib.

Young stray swans are common in Spring as they are still ‘on the move’ from their parents, she said, and several swans were rescued wandering at Bóthar na dTreabh earlier this year.

“They don’t know where they are going but their instinct makes them go to find feeding ground, which are getting more and more difficult to find because of habitats being depleted and more buildings.

“If there is a breeding pair on the feeding ground, they will not allow them in, and they could be beaten off several places before they eventually find a place. A lot of them don’t make it at this point.

“A swan needs green matter – water weeds, grasses, and algae. An adult swan needs a kilo and a half of green matter per swan per day. It’s a lot of food. That’s what they are looking for.

“There is quite a population of swans in Galway at the moment, so I don’t know where they are all going to find suitable feeding ground,” said Ms Joyce-Glynn.

Pictured: A distressed juvenile swan in the car park of Galway Shopping Centre last week.