# Black swan (*Cygnus atratus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-swan  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The black swan (Cygnus atratus) is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 5.6 kg, ranging from 5.1 to 6.2 kg, and a wingspan of 1.8 m, ranging from 1.6 to 2 m. The black swan is an aquatic herbivore of wetland habitat, is partially migratory, and checklists record it in Australia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 5.1 kg – 6.2 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 1.6 m – 2 m |
| Lifespan | 35 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 40 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 39 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 5.5 |
| Age at maturity | 2.25 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Partial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Anseriformes
- family: Anatidae
- genus: Cygnus
- species: *Cygnus atratus* (Latham, 1790)

Synonyms: *Anas atrata*, *Chenopis atrata*, *Chenopis atrata roberti*, *Chenopsis atratus*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the black swan?

The black swan is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup. It belongs to the family Anatidae and the order Anseriformes.

### How heavy is a black swan?

An adult black swan has a body mass of 5.6 kg, with values from 5.1 to 6.2 kg reported by our sources.

### What is the wingspan of a black swan?

The black swan has a wingspan of 1.8 m, with values from 1.6 to 2 m reported by our sources.

### What does the black swan eat?

The black swan is a herbivore.

### Is the black swan endangered?

No. The black swan is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

### How long does a black swan live?

The black swan has a lifespan of 35 years, with values up to 40 years reported by our sources.

### Who named the black swan?

The black swan, Cygnus atratus, was named by (Latham, 1790).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Black swan (Cygnus atratus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-swan