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I’ve seen two swans forming a love-heart with their necks. Is this a pair?

By On May 13, 2015 · Leave a Comment

No!  What you are seeing is in fact two males engaging in a stand-off.  In these stand-offs the males will raise their wings to make themselves look as large and intimidating as possible, and then partake in a series of ‘parallel swims’.  Eventually one of the two males will concede to the other by swimming away.

Two males engaged in a 'parallel swim' standoff (Photos: Ed Dunens)

Posted in: Black swans

 
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Did you know?

An adult male swan is called a cob (from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group). An adult female swan is called a pen, and baby swans are called cygnets (from the Latin word cygnus ("swan") and the Old French suffix -et ("little").
2015-05-11T02:20:03+00:00
An adult male swan is called a cob (from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group). An adult female swan is called a pen, and baby swans are called cygnets (from the Latin word cygnus ("swan") and the Old French suffix -et ("little").

The Black Swan is protected under the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974. It is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
2015-05-11T02:23:39+00:00
The Black Swan is protected under the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974. It is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

A colony of Black Swans in Dawlish, Devon has become so well associated with the town that the bird has been the town's emblem for
2015-05-11T02:23:29+00:00
A colony of Black Swans in Dawlish, Devon has become so well associated with the town that the bird has been the town's emblem for

The current global population of black swans is estimated to be up to 500,000 individuals.
2015-05-11T02:23:19+00:00
The current global population of black swans is estimated to be up to 500,000 individuals.

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2015-05-11T02:23:10+00:00
Black swans occur over large parts of Australia, with estimates of their range varying from 1 to 10 million square kilometers.