Swan
:
*
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 Reichenbach 1853*
Coscoroba Swan,
Coscoroba coscoroba, also of South America
Image:NPS Wildlife. Trumpeter Swan on Nest.jpg|Trumpeter SwanImage:flock-of-tundra-swans.jpg|Flock of Tundra Swans migrating near Alma, WI, USAImage:Black Swans.PNG|Black SwansImage:Höckerschwan_mit_ausgebreiteten-Flügeln.jpg|Mute Swan*Perhaps the best known story about a swan is
The Ugly Duckling fable. The story centers around a duckling who is mistreated until it becomes evident he is a swan and is accepted into the habitat. He was mistreated because real ducklings are, according to many, more attractive than a cygnet, yet cygnets become swans, which are very attractive creatures.
*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
Manasarovar lake and migrate to
Indian 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 longer found in India, not even in most zoos. However,
ornithological checklists clearly classify several species of swans as
vagrant birds in India.
*Swans are often a symbol of love or fidelity, because of their long-lasting monogamist relationships. See the famous swan-related operas
Lohengrin and
Parsifal.
*In
Greek mythology, the story of
Leda and the Swan recounts that
Helen of Troy was conceived in a union of
Zeus disguised as a swan and
Leda, Queen of
Sparta.
*One
Chinese idiom about swan is
"You are a scoundrel who wants to eat swan meat!" . This idiom refers to people who are rude and ask/demand a reward they shouldn't deserve.
*Infamously, at the
2001 Academy Awards ceremony, singer
Björk raised eyebrows when she arrived wearing a flamboyantly quirky dress shaped like a swan.
*The
Sydney Swans AFL Team uses a swan as its club emblem/mascot.
*
Swansea City A.F.C. mascot is a swan called
Cyril the Swan.
*The
Finnish Euro coin displays two swans flying.
*It was once believed that upon death, the otherwise silent Mute swan would sing beautifully- hence the phrase
swan song.
*
Swan videos on the Internet Bird Collection
*
The Swan Sanctuary Shepperton,England
