IUCN Conservation Status –
Least Concern
Extinct In The Wild
Class: Birds
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Our pair of black-necked swans can be found on the lake near the ring-tailed lemur island.
The black-necked swan inhabits southern South America. It lives in a wide variety of freshwater habitats such as estuaries, inland lakes, lagoons, and marshes.
This beautiful bird eats aquatic vegetation for the bulk of its diet, which it gathers from below the surface of the water.
Interesting facts!
- Cygnets are sometimes seen on the backs of their parents or hidden under the parents wings while they are swimming.
- Swans lay the biggest eggs of any flighted bird.
- Swans have many more neck vertebrae than those of mammals. Swans have 24 or 25 vertebrae, while most mammals have only seven.
Conservation
In parts of its range, this species is under threat by wetland drainage and decreasing water quality due to industrial activity in the area. They are an important part of their ecosystem, as they control populations of algae in lakes, preventing them from becoming invasive species.
