by Nicholas Munday, Adelaide Urban Birding

Welcome to another installment in our series, What Bird is That?, where we explore the many birds that beautify your Adelaide Park Lands.

The subject of this article is one of Australia’s truly emblematic birds, the Black Swan (Cygnus atratus).   

With a name that reflects the famous fallacy and reminds us to expect the unexpected, these birds are icons of the Land Down Under: an inverted bird for a continent at the bottom of the world. 

So widely held was the belief by ignorant Europeans that a black swan was an impossibility, the discovery of an actual Black Swan – not just a single bird, but a whole species – completely rewrote the history books and became its own salient lesson against blanket statements. (A ‘black swan event’, of course, is one that is both unexpected and unforeseeable, but often one which seems obvious in hindsight.)

Black Swans are unmistakable. As Australia’s only native swan, they cut a regal profile on the water, appearing to glide over the surface, with their graceful necks arched.

When in flight, they cut through the air like an arrow, with radiant, white wings contrasting dramatically against their otherwise uniform black plumage.

A group of birds is more often heard before they are seen, musically calling to each other with a symphony of trumpeting songs. 

Swans are members of the waterfowl – the order, Anseriformes – which includes ducks and geese. These birds are all characterised (at least partially) by their webbed feet, semi-aquatic habits, and young that hatch fully developed (and very fluffy). The latter is in contrast to most other birds whose young hatch blind and bald. 

Waterfowl are, unsurprisingly, tied to water in most aspects of their lives. Swans, members of the genus, Cygnus, display some other unique traits. Notably, they are the heaviest of the waterfowl, with extremely long and flexible necks that are adapted to stripping apart submerged vegetation. 

While most northern hemisphere swan species are migratory, Australia’s Black Swans are permanent residents. Although, like most of our water birds, they are nomadic and dependent on local conditions.

Western Australia famously has a substantial share of the national population, which give their name to the iconic Swan River. But South Australia boasts large numbers as well, particularly along the Coorong and the River Murray. The Gulf St Vincent also hosts a healthy population, particularly around the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary.

All swans are famous for forming dedicated relationships, and Black Swans are no exception. Pairs will mate for life, reuniting each year to breed and raise a family of cygnets.

Parent swans are famously bad-tempered if they perceive any sort of threat to their brood, chasing away foxes, dogs and people alike with an uncompromised vigour.

However, the urban myth about swans being able to break the arm of a child is totally unfounded. Swans are hollow-boned and would easily break their own necks or wings long before breaking anyone’s arm.

Black Swans have been on the national radar recently after genomic studies revealed a worrying reduction in the diversity of certain immune-response genes associated with viral immunity.

Other waterfowl, even very close relatives of the Black Swan, possess substantially more diversity and complexity in similar viral-response genes. 

It is thought that once the current H5N1 bird flu strain arrives in Australia – predicted to be brought in by migratory birds over the coming summer months – the Black Swan is at a significant risk of total extinction.

This may sound like hyperbole, but this strain of bird flu has already wrought untold destruction in South American waterfowl, among countless other species. This is an ominous warning for what may be in store for the Black Swan.

Enjoy these paradoxical icons in your Adelaide Park Lands as their swan song may not be too far away.

Within your Adelaide Park Lands, Black Swans are most frequently encountered along the Torrens Lake, particularly at Possum Park / Pirltawarldli (Park 1) and at Elder Park (Park 26). 

Occasionally, pairs and lone birds will turn up at Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16) and the main lake of the Adelaide Botanic Garden (Park 11). 

There is an iNaturalist page, which can show you exactly where citizen scientists (like you!) have observed black swans in Adelaide and elsewhere.

To find out about other birds in your Adelaide Park Lands, check out our What Bird is That? series.

Main photo, top: Black Swan by Nicholas Munday, Adelaide Urban Birding.

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Nicholas Munday is an environment and planning lawyer with degrees in law and science (evolutionary biology and ecology) from the University of Adelaide. 

He has a strong interest in biodiversity conservation and runs the ‘Adelaide Urban Birding’ Instagram account (@adelaideurbanbirding), dedicated to his photography of native birds in the Adelaide metropolitan area.

In his free time, Nicholas is well-known in the Adelaide choral music and theatre communities and also enjoys bushwalking, writing, and, of course, photography.  

The opinions expressed in this article are entirely those of the author. This author is not affiliated with the Adelaide Park Lands Association Inc.