Black Swan: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Ducks, Geese and Swans · day 2 of 7

Five facts

1. Black swans have no fixed migration. When rain finally falls in Australia's dry centre, they fly there to nest and raise their young.
2. If an egg rolls out of the nest, either parent hooks it back in with its neck. In other swans, only the mother does this.
3. Its body is black and its bill bright red, but its flight feathers are white. For its size, no swan has a longer neck.
4. Both parents look after the cygnets for about nine months. For longer trips into deep water, the young sometimes ride on a parent's back.
5. Europeans first saw black swans in 1697, during Willem de Vlamingh's exploration of the Swan River in Western Australia.

The quiz

1. What makes black swans fly into the dry centre of Australia to nest?

• The first frosts
• Rain falling there (correct)
• The full moon
• The longest days of summer

Their moves follow rainfall: when rain falls in the arid centre, they go there to nest.

2. Which black swans put a stray egg back into the nest?

• Only the mother, with her feet
• Only the father, with his bill
• The older cygnets
• Both parents, with their neck (correct)

Both sexes bring the egg back using the neck, unlike in other swans.

3. What colour are a black swan's flight feathers?

• White (correct)
• Black
• Bright red
• Greenish

The black swan is black-feathered but has white flight feathers.

4. How do black swan cygnets sometimes travel into deeper water?

• Holding a parent's tail in their bill
• On floating nests
• Riding on a parent's back (correct)
• Walking along the bottom

For longer trips into deep water, cygnets may climb onto a parent's back.

5. In what year did Europeans first see black swans?

• 1790
• 1864
• 1697 (correct)
• 1954

They were first seen by Europeans in 1697, on the Swan River.

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