One of the most beautiful waterfowl on the planet is the black swan. Unlike their white-winged relatives, more familiar to our eyes, these birds are smaller in size, but they have the longest neck among all representatives of such birds. And you can fully appreciate their beauty if you see a black swan in flight - then contrasting white fly feathers in its wings, graceful body lines and graceful movements are noticeable.
The birthplace of these beauties is Australia. On this closed continent, many unique species of flora and fauna have survived that have disappeared from the face of the rest of the world. The black swan is one of them. At the moment, this bird and on its native continent is on the verge of extinction in the wild. You can also meet him in a natural setting on the islands of New Zealand, but in captivity he is distributed around the world as an inhabitant of zoos and ordinary city parks along with ducks, geese and mute swans.
The black swan is a bird (the photo is a confirmation of that) noble and majestic! Involuntarily hold your breath, admiring this handsome! By the way, he does not wander, depending on the season, like other birds, preferring to stay in the same place, and without problems can live his whole life (and they have it for about 20 years) in his area.
If you look at the photographs depicting a young black swan, you can be slightly disappointed. Chicks and juveniles are completely unlike adult swans. They are covered with brownish fluff, and only after reaching the age of five months they begin to resemble their handsome parents. The wingspan of an adult swan can reach 2 meters; it usually weighs from 4 to 8 kilograms. But, despite the apparent slowness, this handsome man takes off very quickly. Its beauty is considered to be undeniable among swans - a beautiful dark plumage with a moire pattern, a contrasting dark red beak, curled fly feathers make its look truly fabulous.
Unlike the mute swan, the black swan has a loud trumpet voice, which it uses to summon its flock. These birds are quite companionable, live in communities and are distinguished by their non-conflict character. Perhaps for this reason, they have become favorite park birds around the world. And more recently, you can meet them on the lawns of private estates. Along with peacocks and guinea fowls, these handsome men are an adornment of a private house.
In the content they are unpretentious. The black swan feeds mainly on plants. Due to its long neck, it can extract their stems deep from under the water. In addition to food, the bird uses prey to organize nests - the nests of black swans are made from the stems of aquatic plants. And when kept in captivity, he wonderfully eats corn, cabbage leaves and food intended for geese. To keep a black swan in a private house, you do not need a separate pool. He satisfies his need for water not bad even in the presence of an ordinary trough with water. In addition, they tolerate low temperatures well, and therefore they can be easily maintained in our climate both in summer and in winter.