A gay swan couple built a nest together so the zoo gave them 3D-printed eggs to raise

A pair of male swans at an Australian zoo were given the opportunity to express their fatherly instincts this year with a clutch of 3D-printed eggs.

Early this month, Zoos Victoria posted the story of Billy and Elliot, two male black swans at the Melbourne Zoo. The pair were rescued after being attacked by dogs and have remained at the zoo ever since. This spring, during mating season, they began courting each other.

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“They are a couple that we’re hoping one day might actually be foster parents.”

“This is something we do see in male swans,” Ben, a bird keeper with Zoos Victoria, explained in the video. “Two boys can pair up.”

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According to Ben, the pair even constructed a nest. All of which got the zoo’s bird team thinking about ways to provide Billy and Elliot – presumably named for the title character of the 2000 film about a young boy who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer and goes on to appear in Matthew Bourne’s queer take on Swan Lake – with an opportunity to engage in reproductive behavior as well.

So, the zoo turned to Guy, a volunteer with Healseville Sanctuary who creates 3D-printed eggs for all of Zoos Victoria’s properties.

“Eggs aren’t necessarily about just making babies, they’re actually part of the behaviors inbuilt in these birds,” Guy explained.

The team placed the fake eggs in Billy and Elliott’s nest, and while the pair “showed a lot of interest” in them, they declined to sit on the eggs. But Ben said the Zoos Victoria bird team intends to keep working on that. “We’re definitely gonna offer [eggs] to them again next season.”

Check out the full clip below.