Swans Swans are the largest and one of the most beautiful of the waterfowl.

A male is known
as a cob, a female is a pen, and the young are called cygnets. Odd fact: It has been
said that a swan can have as many as 25,000 feathers. Swans are found to float on
ponds such as the one shown in the picture. They are members of the duck family, and
there are seven different species. A swan is long-necked and has more neck vertebrae
than any other bird—a total of 23. Swans feed on roots of aquatic plants and as a
result, may be responsible for a decline in habitat available for other waterfowl.
Many times swans mate for life and remain together. Their first breeding usually takes
place at 3 or 4 years old. The females do most of the egg incubation and usually have
an average of five eggs. Incubation takes approximately 30 days.
The swans are the largest members of the waterfowl family Anatidae, and are among
the largest flying birds. The largest species, including the mute swan, trumpeter swan,
and whooper swan, can reach length of over 1.5 m (60 inches) and weigh over 15 kg (33 pounds). Their wingspans can be almost 3 m (10 ft). Compared to
the closely related geese, they are much larger in size and have proportionally larger feet and necks. They also have a patch of unfeathered skin between the
eyes and bill in adults. The sexes are alike in plumage, but males are generally bigger and heavier than females.

The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage but the Southern Hemisphere species are mixed black and white. The Australian Black Swan
(Cygnus atratus) is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings; the chicks of black swans are light grey in colour, and the South American
Black-necked Swan has a black neck.

The legs of swans are normally a dark blackish grey colour, except for the two South American species, which have pink legs. Bill colour varies: the four subarc-
tic species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow, and all the others are patterned red and black. Although most birds generally do not have teeth, swans
are known to be an exception to this, having small jagged ‘teeth’ as part of their beaks used for catching and eating fish. The Mute Swan and Black-necked
Swan have a lump at the base of the bill on the upper mandible.

Swans feed in the water and on land. They are almost entirely herbivorous, although they may eat small amounts of aquatic animals. In the water food is ob-
tained by up-ending or dabbling, and their diet is composed of the roots, tubers, stems and leaves of aquatic and submerged plants.

The lifespan of the mute swan is often over 10 years, and sometimes over 20, whereas the black-necked swan survives for less than a decade in captivity.