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:{{otheruses}}
{{Taxobox_begin | color = pink | name = Swans}}
{{Taxobox_image | image = [[Image:Swans.jpg|250px|Mute Swan]] | caption = [[Mute Swan]]}}
{{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = pink}}
{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = [[Animal]]ia}}
{{Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = [[Chordate|Chordata]]}}
{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = [[bird|Aves]]}}
{{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = [[Anseriformes]]}}
{{Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = [[Anatidae]]}}
{{Taxobox_subfamilia_entry | taxon = [[Anserinae]]}}
{{Taxobox_end_placement}}
{{Taxobox_section_subdivision | color = pink | plural_taxon = Genera}}
'''''Cygnus'''''<br>
'''''Coscoroba'''''
{{Taxobox_end}}
'''Swans''' are large water [[bird]]s of the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Anatidae]], which also includes [[goose|geese]] and [[duck]]s. Swans are grouped with the closely related [[goose|geese]] in the [[subfamily]] [[Anserinae]].
Swans usually mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure or the death of a partner (this can be due to 'capsizing': overturned swans lack the ability to right themselves and therefore drown). The number of eggs in each clutch varies both within and among swan species, typically between 3–8 eggs.
Young swans are known as ''cygnets'', from the Latin word for swan, ''cygnus''. The male and female adults are known as ''cob'' and ''pen''.
The [[Northern Hemisphere]] [[species]] of swan all have pure white plumage, but the [[Southern Hemisphere]] species are all patterned with various amounts of black. The [[Australia]]n '''Black Swan''' (''Cygnus atratus'') is black all over except for the white flight feathers on its wings, and the [[South America]]n '''Black-necked Swan''' has, as its name suggests, a black neck; finally, the '''Coscoroba Swan''', also from southern South America, has black tips to the primary feathers.
The legs of all swans are dark blackish grey, except for the two South American species, which have pink legs. Bill colour varies rather more; the three far northern species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow, and all the others varyingly patterned red and black. The Mute Swan and Black-necked Swan have a lump at the base of the bill on the upper mandible.
==Species of swan==
Genus '''''Cygnus''''' <small>[[Johann Matthäus Bechstein|Bechstein]] [[1803]]</small>
*'''[[Whooper Swan]]''', ''Cygnus cygnus'' breeds in [[Iceland]] and subarctic [[Europe]] and [[Asia]], migrating to temperate Europe and Asia in winter. Whooper Swan is [[Finland]]`s national bird.
*'''[[Trumpeter Swan]]''', ''Cygnus buccinator'' is a [[North America]]n species very similar to the Whooper Swan (and sometimes treated as a subspecies of it), which was hunted almost to [[extinction]] but has since recovered: it is one of the heaviest [[flight|flying]] animals, at up to 17 kilograms (38 pounds).
*'''[[Whistling Swan]]''', ''Cygnus columbianus'' is a relatively small swan which breeds on the [[North America]]n tundra, further north than other swans. It winters in the [[USA]].
*'''[[Bewick's Swan]]''', ''Cygnus bewickii'' is the Eurasian form which migrates from Arctic [[Russia]] to western Europe and eastern Asia ([[China]], [[Japan]]) in winter. The reserves of the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] and of the [[Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust]] in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] are important for Bewick's and Whooper Swans. It is often considered a subspecies of ''C. columbianus'', creating the species [[Tundra Swan]].
*'''[[Black Swan]]''', ''Cygnus atratus'' of [[Australia]], and introduced in [[New Zealand]]. The Black Swan is the official state emblem of [[Western Australia]], and is also the symbol of the [[Sydney]] beachside suburb of [[Dee Why]].
**'''[[New Zealand Swan]]''', ''Cygnus atratus sumnerensis'' {{StatusPrehistoric}}
*'''[[Black-necked Swan]]''', ''Cygnus melancoryphus'' of [[South America]], formerly ''Sthenelides melanocorypha''.
*'''[[Mute Swan]]''', ''Cygnus olor'', is a common temperate Eurasian species, often semi-domesticated; descendants of domestic flocks are naturalized in the United States and elsewhere.
Genus '''''Coscoroba''''' <small>[[Ludwig Reichenbach|Reichenbach]] [[1853]]</small>
*'''[[Coscoroba Swan]]''', ''Coscoroba coscoroba'', also of South America
<gallery>
Image:NPS Wildlife. Trumpeter Swan on Nest.jpg|Trumpeter Swan
Image:flock-of-tundra-swans.jpg|Flock of Tundra Swans migrating near Alma, WI, USA
Image:Black Swans.PNG|[[Black Swan]]s
</gallery>
==Trivia==
*Swans are revered in many religions and cultures, especially [[Hinduism]]. The [[Sanskrit]] word for swan is ''hamsa'' or ''hansa'', and it is the vehicle of many deities like the goddess [[Saraswati]]. It is mentioned several times in the [[Vedic]] literature, and some swans have also been said to have the knowledge of the Supreme Being [[Brahman]]. They are said to reside in the summers in the [[Lake Manasarovar|Manasarovar]] lake and migrate to [[India]]n lakes for the winter, eat pearls, and separate milk from water in a mixture of both. Hindu iconography typically shows the Mute Swan. It is wrongly supposed by many Historians that the word ''hamsa'' only means a goose, since today swans are no more found in India, not even in most zoos. However, [[ornithology|ornithological]] checklists like [http://www.wcmc.org.uk/igcmc/rl_anml/indbird.html this] clearly classify several species of swans as [[vagrant]] birds in India.
*It is almost a [[taboo]] to kill a swan in some countries since they had been used as a symbols or weapon insignia for important families ([[England]] for example has a written law against killing swans), if a swan was deliberately killed that perpetrator will be seriously prosecuted.
*In the [[Greek mythology]] epic [[Helen of Troy]]. Helen is half swan half human due to that her parents was an union of a swan ([Zeus] in swan disguise) and a human female. Helen is said to be so beautiful that she was the reason a 10 year long siege war started in [[Troy]].
*One [[Chinese idiom]] about swan is ''"You are a scoundrel who wants to eat swan meat!"'' . This idiom refer to people who are rude and ask/demand a reward they shouldn't deserve.
==See also==
* [[Wildfowl]]
* [[Waterfowl]]
[[Category:Swans]]
[[Category:Cygnus]]
[[Category:Birds]]
[[Category:Heraldic birds]]
[[bg:Лебеди]]
[[cy:Alarch]]
[[da:Svane]]
[[de:Schwäne]]
[[es:Cisne]]
[[fr:Cygne (oiseau)]]
[[fy:Swannen]]
[[he:ברבור]]
[[io:Cigno]]
[[it:Cigno (uccello)]]
[[ko:고니류]]
[[nl:Zwaan (vogel)]]
[[ja:ハクチョウ]]
[[os:Доныхъаз]]
[[pl:Łabędź (ptak)]]
[[pt:Cisne]]
[[ru:Лебедь]]
[[sl:Labod]]
[[zh:天鹅属]]
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