Kreeti’s Creatures

Hello Everyone!!! 👋

This week, I’m going to be blogging about a very beautiful bird… The black swan!!! (No, no, no, not the movie! The bird!) The black swan is actually considered very rare around the world. The term black swan event means “an unpredictable event that’s beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences.” But here in Australia, they’re quite common! I once went on holiday somewhere and we were just enjoying the view when suddenly, a black swan walked up to us. It was very agressive and we just watched from far away. I really wanted to touch it, but my mum said no. I was very sad at the time, but now I understand why. They are extremely aggressive and can (and will!) attack you if you get too close. Ha. How about that? A black swan attacking you is a black swan event!

They are native to Australia and can be found in New Zealand. Here’s some more information about them:

BLACK SWANS

The black swan has dark black plumage with white feather tips on its wings. It looks AWESOME when they spread out their wings. The beak is an orangish-red colour with white tips. Male swans are called cobs, females are called pens, and the babies are called cygnets.

The legs of a swan are usually greyish black and so are the feet. A full grown adult black swan would weigh about 3.7 – 9 kilograms and the height would be about 110 to 142 centimeters. They have pretty large wings with a wingspan between 1.6 and 2 meters. The neck is very long (maybe even the longest neck out of all the species of swan), and is usually curved in an S shape. The call of a black swan is kind of musical actually, and it sort of sounds like a bugle (which is a brass instrument that’s kind of like a horn.) It can also make softer, quieter notes. It also makes a whistling sound when it’s disturbed while breeding or nesting.

While swimming, black swans hold their necks either upright and or arched and will sometimes spread their wings out, which is a really cool sight to see, by the way. When flying, swans fly in a V formation or in a line, with the birds flying strongly and with their long necks stretched out. Sometimes their wings make a slow whistling sound if they’re flying quickly and strongly. They might also make braying and trumpeting sounds.

Before we go, here’s a quick little aboriginal dreamtime story about black swans:

Long ago, the swans in Australia used to be white. They lived peacefully until the eagles came and tore away all of their feathers, except for the tips of their wings. The swans were very upset. The crows felt sorry for the swans and wanted to give them their feathers back. But they didn’t know how. Then one swan had an idea. He said to the crows, “You may not have our white feathers, but you have black ones! Why don’t you give them to us?” The crows agreed and while flying overhead the swans, they shed their feathers on the swans. Their red beaks is blood from when the eagles attacked them.

Thanks for reading and I hoped you liked this week’s blog!! I’ll be back next week for more. 😁😋😎