Black Swan - description, habitat, interesting facts

The black swan is a beautiful water bird that can be seen in most ecoparks located around the world. Such birds are distinguished by elegance and grace, and their main differences from the white swans are habitat, size and character. The image of the black color swan has gained popularity not only among animal lovers, but also among the compilers of dream books.

Description

The homeland of the Black Swan is Australia. That is why the glory of this type has spread around the world only after the discovery of the mainland. The designated continent has been little studied, but it is known that there are many unique representatives of plants and wildlife that have disappeared from other parts of our planet. Unfortunately, the black swan population is declining and its appearance is on the verge of extinction.To meet such a bird in captivity today is a difficult task.

The plumage of birds has a coal color with white patches. The inclusion of white feathers and their gray edging contribute to this. Their beak, unlike the mute swan, is bright red. The paws of the bird, in this case, have a blue-black or coal color. However, young birds are not at all like adults. Their brown plumage and pink beak acquire their famous color only after five months of life. Often, a bird can be seen, in which the primary and humeral feathers curl.

Cygnusatratus is distinguished by its size. So, with large dimensions (body length can be a half meter) the wingspan of this representative of the class of birds is about two meters. A black swan and a long neck, a neat head, and a short tail are colored. Due to the length of the neck, the bird can obtain food from water bodies with a sufficiently large depth. The fabulous image and the seeming at first glance smoothness and sluggishness does not affect the speed of the swan.
Lifestyle

The black swan takes off extremely rarely. This is explained not only by the structure of the wings and the need for open space for a run, a length of 70 meters, but also a sedentary lifestyle.The warm climate, as well as unpretentiousness in food, give the swan the opportunity to stay in place for a long time, and fly to a new place only in extreme cases.

The bird feeds mainly on plants, which, by the way, in some cases are used by it as a means for organizing the nest. It is worth noting that the nest is built as close as possible to the pond by both partners. In addition, swans can feed on fry, amphibians and crustaceans. In that case, if the nesting site is located near the field with crops, then the birds are able to eat corn or wheat during raids. If there is a lot of food near the nest, the black swans will not change its location for quite a long time.

The black swan is a schooling bird living in colonies consisting of individuals united in pairs. The number of pairs in a colony can be up to fifty. Interestingly, black swans can form a pair of the same sex. In this case, the males call females only for egg-laying, and then expel them and incubate the eggs themselves.

Patience and calmness are the main distinguishing features of a swan.However, in some cases, young individuals may show aggression towards other males who have attempted to settle in their habitat.

Communication of birds occurs through guttural sounds. The sonorous trumpet voice, which strongly distinguishes the black swan from the whisper's relative, allows individuals to be called up to the flock.

In nature, the swan is almost completely devoid of threats from other representatives of the animal world. However, this fully applies only to adults.

Breeding

Swans find a mate at the age of two. Since then, they have been faithful to their partner until the end of their lives. Birds breed in the rainy season. This is directly related to the fact that the water level rises, and the amount of feed increases markedly. The beginning of the mating season is marked by excellent dancing partners, after which the individuals mate. Masonry, as a rule, has about 7 eggs. Their swans (both female and male) incubate for 1.5 months.

Nestlings do not have independence only in the first two days of life. During this period, they do not leave the nest. Already on the third day, babies follow adults in search offood. During the first 5 months of its life, the black swan is on the water, and then rises on the wing.

Swans in captivity and their protection

In captivity, the black swan is unpretentious. Any plant food will do for him, including cabbage, geese food and corn. Many contain geese at home, providing for them a trough that fills with water. In addition, the black swan tolerates wintering.

As already noted, Australia is an isolated continent, on which many exotic plant and animal species have survived. However, with the advent of man, all these species were in danger of destruction. So, as for the black swans, they were the victims of hunters and poachers who wanted to profit with an attractive down and feather, as well as taste the meat of this bird. Putting the swan to the brink of extinction, the man had to take measures to preserve the species. Thus, the governments of the island states concluded an agreement providing for the joint protection of the black swan and the restoration of its population.

The policy to restore the swan population has led to significant success.Thus, some flocks have grown so much that they threaten the harvest in the fields located near their nests.

What do black swan dreams mean?

Black color, similar to the color of the bird, for centuries symbolized the afterlife and the sacraments. This entails many legends and traditions in which the swan acts as the earthly incarnation of deceased ancestors.

If you look into the dream book, then there can also be found mention of a black swan. So, according to the collection, a dream in which such a bird is present means:

• vibrations and dangerous bonds;
• undesirable meetings;
• betrayal of loved ones;
• improvement of intuition;
• household chores;
• parting or departure;
• loneliness;
• addiction;
• losses.

Black Swan Theory

Many have heard of a theory consonant with the name of a bird species. However, what does it mean? The founder of this theory is N.Taleb. It is based on the fact that the very idea of ​​the existence of a bird is absurd. Indeed, in many books, the black swan was mentioned, but it was opened along with Australia. The discovery radically changed the minds of ornithologists, who were incredibly surprised by the most valuable find.

The theory is detailed in a book called Fooled Accidents. The phrase "black swan" has found application in all spheres of society, from science to politics.

Video: Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)