The picturesque “wedding swan” can now be legally shot in California year-round, without a license.
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Under a bill signed into law this month by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the mute swan has been added to the list of nongame birds that can “taken or possessed at any time.” Assembly Bill 764, by Jeff Gonzalez, R-Coachella, takes effect Jan. 1, 2026, and expires after five years.
The intent is to reduce the population of the non-native mute swan, a large, voracious and territorial bird that competes for resources with native waterfowl and other wetland species. Most of them are in the Suisun Marsh, at the east edge of the Bay Area.
Native to Europe and Asia, these are the birds most people picture when they hear “swan” — large, white, with curved necks and bright orange beaks. They were brought to the United States as pets or largely aesthetic additions to gardens and parks, and now have taken up residence in the wild.
Weighing in at 25 to 30 pounds, they are very aggressive and have been known to inflict serious injuries on humans and pets. The mute swan is a formidable rival to California’s most common native swan, the much smaller tundra swan, which is also differentiated by its straight neck and black beak.
Since 2008, California has required a permit for importing or keeping mute swans, but the wild population has still exploded. A CalMatters report citing state wildlife researchers’ data said the count grew from 1,150 in 2022 to more than 12,000 in the spring of this year.
With the passage of AB 764, the mute swan joins the starling and the English sparrow as bird species that can be shot at any time. (Some mammals are also on the list, including coyotes, skunks and opossums.) No license is required if the hunter is on private land, either their own or with permission. Those who kill a mute swan are encouraged to report it to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife so the agency can keep tabs on invasive species.
Despite the nongame classification, there’s nothing stopping a hunter from eating a mute swan. It’s a lean, dark meat, generally described as no more than mildly gamy. Hunters’ online discussions suggest it would take at least six hours to slow-roast an entire bird; given the difficulty of plucking it, cooks are advised to skin it instead. An easier tactic than roasting would be to cut it into pieces and prepare it as you would duck or goose — cutlets, stir-fry, ground-meat burgers.