Redirected from Cygninae
Mute Swan with cygnets | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Larger version | ||||||||||||
Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
† see also: Goose, Duck Anatidae |
Swans are large water birds of the Anatidae family, which also includes ducks and geese. Sometimes swans are lumped with geese in the subfamily Anserinae.
Swans mate for life; the number of eggs in each clutch varies both within and among swan species.
Young swans are known as cygnets, from the Latin word for swan, cygnus.
Most species of swan are white, but Australia is home to a species known as the Black Swan (Cygnus atratus), which is black with a red beak and white patches under its wings. The black swan is the official state emblem of Western Australia.
The following are examples:
Genus Cygnus
Genus Coscoroba
The Anseriformes and rails are ancestral to neognathous birds, and should follow ratites and tinamous in bird classification systems. See the chart below
For further taxonomic comments, see also Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy.
Search Encyclopedia
|
Featured Article
|