Black Swans

Living in Australia is like being in a storybook fantasy where myths come to life, because of its unique environment and wildlife. 

One Sunday afternoon in April we decided to spend the day at Centennial Parklands, which is a large urban park in the southeast of Sydney's Central Business District (CBD). The park has seven ornamental ponds with unique features that provide a habitat for an array of aquatic creatures.  

On that day, while sitting on a blanket along the water's edge, up glided a beautiful black swan.

It was unbeknown to me but black swans are common down-under - a term used when referring to Australia and New Zealand because they are located in the Southern Hemisphere "below" many other countries. 

The map below shows the widespread distribution of black swans throughout Australia.

Australian distribution of black swans (copyright Birds Australia Bird data)

The black swans actually breed on wetlands in the southeast and southwest regions where the climate is very erratic and the flora and fauna unique.   

They're mostly black with white wing tips that can only be seen when the birds are in flight. Their bills are a deep orange-red.  The female swans (pens) are smaller than the males (cob) and the younger ones (cygnets) are greyer in color.

These are large water birds that enjoy swimming in salt, brackish or freshwater marshes, lakes and ponds.  Swans are vegetarians and dine mostly on algae and aquatic weeds.  

In general, swans are known to be sedentary but the black swan does get around. They're often spotted soaring across the continent in a perfect V-formation.  

Swans are supposed to be monogamous and pair for life.  But, like humans, they have been known to divorce.  The female black swan will actually "cheat" on her mate to ensure a healthy clutch of eggs, in the event the male is infertile.  One of seven cygnets may be illegitimate.  Shameful!  The male swan who cares for the nest is none the wiser. 

Nevertheless, they put up a good front and pictures of swans together have become a universal symbol of love, elegance and grace. 

Universal symbol of love

The swans were very happy with us camping nearby.  Although forbidden, nearby campers were feeding them so they were keen to stay close.  

My grandson Jethro had a lot of fun trying to shoo them away.  He was warned not to get too close.  If they feel threatened they will hiss and swing their massive wings which can cause bodily harm.  

  

Due to their large size, black swans have few natural predators (humans, wolves, foxes and raccoons) and can live up to 30 or 40 years in the wild. 

Black swans were once associated with the impossible, like purple cows and flying pigs until Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh discovered them in Australia. 

Westerners who had believed all swans were white were baffled with the revelation and began to doubt many of their other beliefs.  

Maybe pigs can fly?

The black swan discovery lead Nassim Nicolas to write a book titled, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.  In it he discusses his 'black swan concept' and examines the probability of unlikely events.  Nicolas writes that the world is severely affected by unpredictable and rare events that matter to history - events we could have never predicted but have changed the way we live our lives.

According to this concept, the sinking of the Titanic, 9/11, Brexit and the election of an unusual US president are black swan events.  No way did we see them coming!

Nicolas's book was a New York Times bestseller!

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus.  Their relatives include geese and ducks.

My experience with the black swan's sudden appearance was not a concept, but a real-life fairy-tale event.  I had no advance notice that this beautiful bird would swim into my life, or that the sight of it would evoke in me a sense of childlike wonder.

Living the fairy-tale . . .

A swan of a different color . . .

Down-under, where the impossible becomes probable . . .


. . . I am not in Kansas!