Here you see a female Black-necked Swan (Cygnus melancoryphus) laying an egg and then driving the male away from it.
This is the smallest of the swans. Males weigh up to 6.5 kg, while females are significantly smaller. The beak is grey with a red knob on top, which is larger in males. The eye is surrounded by a thin white line. Their legs are pink.
Black-necked Swans are endemic to South America. They nest in the southern part of the continent, as far as Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. With the onset of winter, they migrate to the northern regions, reaching as far as Paraguay and Brazil.
These swans move poorly on land, literally taking two steps and falling, so they spend most of their time on water. You could say they are the most aquatic of the swans.
For feeding, they visit ponds and marshes overgrown with algae and aquatic plants. They forage in shallow water, and their long necks allow them to reach food from a depth of about 70 cm.
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