The Story
I photographed this Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) at the Zhangye National Wetland Park in Zhangye, Gansu, China on March 28, 2018. It was introduced to other countries as an ornamental bird in the 1800s and is a popular bird in parks and collections. Pairs are monogamous and share incubation and the care of the cygnets. The black swan breeds mainly in southeast and southwest Australia. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. Zhangye’s wetlands are a stopover on the Central Asian flyway, one of the world’s major bird migration routes. The Zhangye National Wetland Park was established in 2009 on the edge of the city and covers about 4,600 hectares.
I took this with a Pentax K-1 and the HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW, at 1/800 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200. The wetland’s managers are working to restore habitat that farming and falling water tables have degraded.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) belongs to the family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2018), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List