Black swan

It is a species of anseriform bird of the family Anatidae, endemic to Australia.

It was discovered in 1697. In the early eighteenth century, English settlers returning from Australia brought with them, in the holds of their ships, a cargo of black swans. Black swans are native to the southern island, and until then it had been thought that all swans were white, because all the ones that were known were white.

The inside story is that this discovery caused a stir in English society. Although it may strike us as somewhat naive, the appearance of a species of swan of a different colour from the one people were used to seeing was a source of debate and controversy for the people of the time. It has been a favourite of ornamental ponds in Europe, and later in America. But it has not become feral on these continents.

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