Cygnets absorb the last of their yolk into their tummies before hatching, which means they don't have to eat for several days. Their first meal might be a nibble of an insect caught along the water's edge. The cygnets forage for insects and pond vegetation.

How do swans feed their cygnets?

Swans eat aquatic vegetation, which their long necks equip them to take from the riverbed. They take the molluscs which cling to the vegetation and also eat small fish, frogs and worms. They will graze big grassy fields, and can survive quite successfully in a field of short-cropped grass.

What do newborn cygnets eat?

They will enthusiastically mop up floating plants, etc... but will also consume a relatively large amount of invertebrates in the early days. (See section Swans' Food) These can be often be picked off overhanging plants that drape over the water surface as well as those floating on the surface.