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Black Swan

Cygnus atratus

Photo by lindistar
Published on Project Noah
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37.1019, -8.67324

Field Notes

Habitat:

This black swan lives in a large man made pond in the marina complex. Seems to be very tame and starts a high-pitched quacking whenever someone walks past! When I tried to do a profile shot he kept looking at the camera straight on, so I had to distract him with my other hand.

Reference Links:

Black Swan

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (12)
lindistar
Hi lori, I had a look, very nice pics and nice to see them in the wild. I think 'my' one has definatly got clipped wings. There is even a little 'house' and a fresh water supply and food, so he is kind of a 'pet' within the marina complex. Re rabbits, in Portugal they are either kept as pets or eaten!!
lori.tas
Lindstar, here's a photo showing the wings, which are mainly white: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/3212001
lindistar
I just read on wikipedia that the wing span is up to 2 meters! No wonder you keep your distance ;)
lori.tas
Fences are good. ;) Yes, it's interesting to see where people have introduced species. Rabbits are the main exotic pest species here. Even I cull them to keep their damage to a minimum. I see hundreds of black swans every week. Some of them still have their cygnets (young) with them.
lindistar
It's interesting how something that is normal in one country is exotic in another! That's one of the things that make this project so much fun :) This is the only back swan I have seen in Portugal, but then I havn't seen many white ones either. I was a bit nervous as he was very big, but seemed very tame, not like your wild ones in Tasmania! Also there was a fence!
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
That is how the Mute Swans can react here. I think most of the Black Swans over here now have been bred in captivity and are used to living close to humans, even to relying on us to provide them with some food.
lori.tas
Maybe its just an indication of ownership, then. I can't imagine getting that close to our wild ones - they're shy, and when with their young, fierce!
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
I am not aware of any restrictions on the movements of Black Swans or other introduced birds in Europe, except by the owners who may clip wings. Many birds have escaped from "captivity" and formed successful wild populations
lori.tas
Since it has a leg band, I assume the species is regulated in Portugal. Probably because they don't want exotic species escaping into the wild. It's been interesting to see all of the Black swan photos from around the world. As they are native where I live (Tasmania) I never really thought about them as an exotic or captive animal (NZ excepted, I knew they were introduced there).
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
I did that for you also - you can do it yourself, just click on the thumbnail, then click "Edit this spotting"
lindistar
Ooops should have checked my spelling before hitting save!

Spotted for Missions

Mission
WILD Cities: Urban Biodiversity

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Photographed
PublishedMarch 22, 2011

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