Swans

The Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) is a large waterbird which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. The Black Swan is common in the wetlands of south western and eastern Australia and adjacent coastal islands. In the south west the range ecompasses an area between North West Cape, Cape Leeuwin and Eucla; while in the east it covers are large region bounded by the Atherton Tableland, the Eyre Peninsula and Tasmania, with the Murray Darling Basin supporting very large populations of black swans. It is uncommon in central and northern Australia.

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The Coscoroba Swan, Coscoroba coscoroba, is the smallest species of swan. The Coscoroba Swan breeds in South America from southern Chile and central Argentina south to Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. In winter it flies north to central Chile, northern Argentina, Uruguay and the south east tip of Brazil.

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The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan, and hence in turn a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is also an introduced species in North America, Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from its being less vocal than other swan species, though it is not always silent.

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The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, is the largest native North American bird, if measured in terms of weight and length, and is (on average) the largest living waterfowl species on earth. Their breeding habitat is large shallow ponds and wide slow rivers in northwestern and central North America, with the largest numbers of breeding pairs found in Alaska. Natural populations of these swans migrate to and from the Pacific coast and portions of the United States.

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The Bewick's or Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) is a small Holarctic swan. As their common name implies, the Tundra Swan breeds in the Arctic and subarctic tundra, where they inhabit shallow pools, lakes and rivers. These birds, unlike Mute Swans (C. olor) but like the other Arctic swans, are migratory birds. The winter habitat of both subspecies is grassland and marshland, often near the coast; they like to visit fields after harvest to feed on discarded grains and while on migration may stop over on mountain lakes.

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The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Old World counterpart of the North American Trumpeter Swan. Whooper swans can migrate many hundreds of miles to their wintering sites in northern Europe & eastern Asia. They breed in subarctic Eurasia, further south than Bewicks in the taiga zone.

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