DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Native to Australia (including Tasmania). Introduced in New Zealand, Europe and North America. It lives in lakes, rivers and swamps with fresh, salt or brackish water. It prefers reservoirs with abundant aquatic vegetation.
BEHAVIOUR
They feed at dusk and travel at night. Black swans are the least territorial of all swans and sometimes nest in colonies. They are sedentary. When food is scarce they tend to move from one place to another.
DIET
It is herbivorous, eating vegetation and plants either in the water or on land in pastures or on farm land.
REPRODUCTION
These are monogamous birds and often have the same mate for life. They are territorial and stay in solitary pairs when mating but are known to occasionally mate in colonies. Female may lay between 5 to 6 eggs. Incubation period begins when all the eggs have been laid. Males are known to help with incubation.
GOOD TO KNOW
Their name implies that they are mostly black but some of the wing feathers are white.
- Latin name: Cygnus atratus
- IUCN Red List – LC – least concern
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