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Black swan
Cygnus atratus
36.1296, -77.4202
Field Notes
Description:
Black Swans are large birds with mostly black plumage and red bills. Cobs (males) are slightly larger than pens (females), with a longer and straighter bill. Cygnets (immature birds) are a greyish-brown with pale-edged feathers. They lose all their flight feathers at once when they moult after breeding, and they are unable to fly for about a month.
The Black Swan utters a musical and far reaching bugle-like sound, called either on the water or in flight, as well as a range of softer crooning notes. It can also whistle, especially when disturbed while breeding and nesting. They are monogamous breeders that share incubation duties and cygnet rearing between the sexes. A Black Swan nest is essentially a large heap or mound of reeds, grasses and weeds between 1 and 1.5 meters (3-4½ feet) in diameter and up to 1 meter high, in shallow water or on islands. If eggs accidentally roll out of the nest both sexes will retrieve the egg using the neck.
Habitat:
The species was hunted to extinction in New Zealand, but later reintroduced. Within Australia they are nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon climatic conditions. They are found in the wetlands of south western and eastern Australia and adjacent coastal islands. Their habitat extends across fresh, brackish and salt water lakes, swamps and rivers with underwater and emergent vegetation for food and nesting materials. Permanent wetlands are preferred, including ornamental lakes, but Black Swans can also be found in flooded pastures and tidal mudflats, and occasionally on the open sea near islands or the shore.
Notes:
These swans were seen at the world’s largest waterfowl park, located in North Carolina (USA). The facility breeds endangered waterfowl and has over 200 species, including the world’s most endangered duck. They assist people in other countries in re-introducing endangered species.This pair was engaged in courting behavior and examining possible nest materials.
Source: wikipedia
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