A couple of scientists in the UK could have saved money and enjoyed a couple of nice trips by visiting penguins in Bremerhaven, Germany and swans in Boston, Massachussetts.

The results of their “travel-study” might not have had the same depth but their main conclusion is among the plumage of our feathered aquatic friends.

Dr. Glenn Wilson of the Institute of Psychiatry and Dr. Qazi Rahman of the University of East London made waves when they recently published their book, Born Gay.

According to their research, homosexuality is in the genes. One’s same-sex attraction has little to do with social influences, say the good doctors. Instead, sexual orientation is the result of genetic factors and hormonal activity in the womb. Their studies explore how babies developing in the womb absorb hormones, including testosterone.

London’s The Independent newspaper breathlessly reported on July 3 that the book proves homosexuality cannot be “cured” and there is nothing “unnatural” about it.

For some people, this might be earth-shattering news. For the gay penguins in Germany and the lesbian swans in Boston, it’s life as they know it.

I wrote a late-March column about the Bremerhaven Zoo’s penguin couples. After noting an unusually low reproduction rate, zoo authorities investigated and discovered that three of the five penguin pairs were homosexual. They tried separating the gay penguin couples and tempting them into copulating with sexy, imported Swedish birds of the opposite sex. It didn’t work.

Last month, Boston’s Parks and Recreation Department caused quite the flap when they released the results of a test conducted on their star pair of swans.

Authorities were puzzled by the fact that for two years in a row, the pair — known widely as Romeo and Juliet — was laying and guarding eggs that never hatched. Hopeful visitors were never going to see offspring hatch because tests revealed that the eggs were never fertilized by a male.

As the Boston Globe reported on August 12, the “news ignited something of a debate among swan spectators in the Public Garden.” In the only American State to legally recognize equal marriage by same-sex couples, the newspaper stated some residents are “insisting the city now should buy a true Romeo and others saying the city should embrace the two as a couple.”

The State’s Legislature will consider, on September 14, a constitutional amendment aimed at preventing same-sex marriages but allowing civil unions. Equality supporters hope that the amendment will be defeated, signaling the swan song for opposition to LGBT rights.

Across the Pond, the UK scientists remain unflappable in the swirl of media coverage surrounding their study. After all, it can’t hurt book sales.

In my opinion, the drive to discover a “legitimate” (i.e. scientific) basis for sexual orientation is not the best use of resources. Those opposed to homosexuality will find other reasons to deny equal treatment. Those who are comfortable with its existence will not care.

Let’s just celebrate the birds and the bees, especially penguins and swans.