Male: General plumage Black, often stained with brown. Wings, black with varying amounts of white outer flight feathers. Eye, white changing to red in breadding season. Bill, orange to dark red with a white bar near the off-white, horny tip. Feet, dark grey.
Female: Like male but bill and eye lighter.
Immatures: At fledging, plumage is mottled grey and brown. White wing feathers have black tips. Eye, red-brown. Bill, dull red with traces of grey, bar and tip light grey.
Downy Young: Downy, light grey. Eye, grey-brown. Bill, dark-grey with light grey nail. Legs and feet, dark grey. Light brown feathers appear after 3- or 4-weeks. Eye and bill begin to color from 60 days onward.
Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) [XC417673]
by Ramit Singal from do\u00f1ana visitable, sevilla, andaluc\u00eda, Spain (call, song)
Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) [XC601558]
by Sim\u00e9on B\u00e9asse from Cork Lough, Cork city, Co. Cork, Ireland (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Anytime of the year after rains fill lakes, but usually February - September.
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Nest
Large, open thick-walled, composed of twigs, rushes and aquatic plants, slightly lined with down, usually found in swamps and lakes, small islands of rushes and reeds.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 9, usually 4 - 6; pale blue-green, but becoming stained with brown; ellipsoidal; 96 - 115 x 60 - 73 mm. Incubation: 39 - 43 days; by both sexes.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous. Fledge in 113 - 160 days.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Magpie Goose (Anseranas semipalmata), which has white under wings and black primaries, and in silhouette it has a shorter neck.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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