Sam Fried Sam FriedSam Fried has seen and photographed almost all North American birds. Meet Sam Previous Answers

I have a hunch Peter is asking this question because he found these birds so majestic he would like them to stick around for good. But the answer, I'm afraid, is yes; swans do migrate, and the birds on Peter's pond will probably have moved on by the time this answer is posted.

There are two species of swan native to North America — the trumpeter and the tundra — and both are migratory. The swans Peter encountered are most likely tundra swans, and as the name implies, these birds spend their summer breeding season in the distant north, close to the Arctic circle. By early fall they are on the move, working their way south along the Atlantic seaboard and other major flyways. The birds on the Atlantic don't travel all that much farther south — they often winter along the coast of the Carolinas — but chances are, they won't stay long in Massachusetts.

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