Swans are large water birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae.

Swans usually mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure. The number of eggs in each clutch is between 3–8.

Young swans are known as cygnets, from the Latin word for swan, cygnus. The male and female adults are known as cob and pen. The word is derived from Old English swan, akin to German schwan, in turn derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing), whence Latin derives sonus (sound). (Webster's New World Dictionary)

Coloration

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The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage, but the Southern Hemisphere species are patterned with black. The Australian Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings, and the South American Black-necked Swan has a black neck. The Coscoroba Swan, also from southern South America, has black tips to the primary feathers.

The legs of swans are dark blackish grey, except for the two South American species, which have pink legs. Bill colour varies; the three far northern species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow, and all the others are patterned red and black. The Mute Swan and Black-necked Swan have a lump at the base of the bill on the upper mandible.

Species of swan

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Genus Cygnus Bechstein 1803

• Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus breeds in Iceland and subarctic Europe and Asia, migrating to temperate Europe and Asia in winter. Whooper Swan is Finland`s national bird.
• Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator is a North American species very similar to the Whooper Swan (and sometimes treated as a subspecies of it), which was hunted almost to extinction but has since recovered: it is one of the heaviest flying animals, at up to 17 kg (38 lb).
• Whistling Swan, Cygnus columbianus is a small swan which breeds on the North American tundra, further north than other swans. It winters in the USA.
• Bewick's Swan, Cygnus bewickii is the Eurasian form which migrates from Arctic Russia to western Europe and eastern Asia (China, Japan) in winter. The reserves of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Britain are important for Bewick's and Whooper Swans. It is often considered a subspecies of C. columbianus, creating the species Tundra Swan.
• Black Swan, Cygnus atratus of Australia, and introduced in New Zealand. The Black Swan is the state emblem of Western Australia, and is also the symbol of the Sydney beachside suburb of Dee Why.
  • New Zealand Swan, Cygnus atratus sumnerensis or Cygnus sumnerensis, is an extinct sub-species of black swan from the New Zealand and the Chatham Islands.
• Black-necked Swan, Cygnus melancoryphus of South America, formerly Sthenelides melanocorypha.
• Mute Swan, Cygnus olor, is a common temperate Eurasian species, often semi-domesticated; descendants of domestic flocks are naturalized in the United States and elsewhere.

Genus Coscoroba Reichenbach 1853

• Coscoroba Swan, Coscoroba coscoroba, also of South America

Photo gallery

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Image:NPS Wildlife. Trumpeter Swan on Nest.jpg|Trumpeter Swan Image:flock-of-tundra-swans.jpg|Flock of Tundra Swans migrating near Alma, WI, USA Image:Black Swans.PNG|Black Swans

Swans in human culture

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• Perhaps the best known story about a swan is The Ugly Duckling fable. The story centers around a duckling who is mistreated until it becomes evident he is a swan and is accepted into the habitat. He was mistreated because real ducklings are, according to many, more attractive than a cygnet, yet cygnets become swans, which are very attractive creatures.
• Swans are revered in many religions and cultures, especially Hinduism. The Sanskrit word for swan is hamsa or hansa, and it is the vehicle of many deities like the goddess Saraswati. It is mentioned several times in the Vedic literature, and some swans have also been said to have the knowledge of the Supreme Being Brahman. They are said to reside in the summers in the Manasarovar lake and migrate to Indian lakes for the winter, eat pearls, and separate milk from water in a mixture of both. Hindu iconography typically shows the Mute Swan. It is wrongly supposed by many Historians that the word hamsa only means a goose, since today swans are no longer found in India, not even in most zoos. However, ornithological checklists clearly classify several species of swans as vagrant birds in India.
• In Greek mythology, the story of Leda and the Swan recounts that Helen of Troy was conceived in a union of Zeus disguised as a swan and Leda, Queen of Sparta.
• One Chinese idiom about swan is "You are a scoundrel who wants to eat swan meat!" . This idiom refers to people who are rude and ask/demand a reward they shouldn't deserve.
• Infamously, at the 2001 Academy Awards ceremony, singer Björk raised eyebrows when she arrived wearing a flamboyantly quirky dress shaped like a swan.
• The Sydney Swans AFL Team uses a swan as its club emblem/mascot.
• Swansea City A.F.C. mascot is a swan called Cyril the Swan.
• The Finnish Euro coin displays two swans flying.

External links

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• Swan videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• The Swan Sanctuary Shepperton,England

cygnus | Heraldic birds

Лебеди | Alarch | Svane | Schwäne | Cygnus (género) | Cygne (oiseau) | Swannen | Cisne | 고니류 | Labudovi | Cigno | Доныхъаз | Cigno (uccello) | ברבור | Olor | Schwanen | Gulbės | Zwanen | ハクチョウ | Łabędź (ptak) | Cisne | Лебеди | Swan | Labod | Soang | Joutsenet | Svanar | 天鹅属