Black Swan

Scientific name: Cygnus atratus

Meaning of name:

Cygnus is a Latin word meaning swan. Atratus is a Latin word meaning blackened.

Aboriginal Name:

Koltjak (call’jack).

Distribution:

Widespread across Australian where water available.

Description:

Up to 140 centimetres long with a 200 centimetre wingspan.

Notes:

The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 930 km. The oldest bird recorded was still alive when its band was read in December 1994, 24 years 8.6 months after being banded (information as at 13 June 2012).

The photographs for this species were not taken in the reserves of interest to the FQPB.

References:

What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978

Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.

Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2 https://library.dbca.wa.gov.au/Journals/080559/080559-07.015.pdf

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html

Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/e848916c-5f2d-43ef-8cba-8e32a9034377