Swan

Cisne (Cygnus smell) at the Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Germany.

Black swan in the park of El Retiro de Madrid.

Swan coscoroba.

Swan in Israel, 1969

Mute swan is the common name of several anseriform birds of the family Anatidae. They are large waterfowl. Most of the species belong to the genus Cygnus.

Swan species

Several species of birds are known as swan:

• Cisne boy (Cygnus columbianus) - Arctic: North America, Europe and Asia, inverna in the south.
• Cisne de Bewick (Cygnus bewickii) - Siberia, inverna on the coasts of the North Sea, Caspian Sea and Yellow Sea and Japan. Some consider it subspecies of C. columbianus.
• Cisne cantor (Cygnus cygnus) - Subarctic: Europe and Asia, inverna in the south.
• Cisne trompetero (Cygnus buccinator) - Subarctic North America, inverna in the south.
• Cisne vulgar (Cygnus smell) - Tempered Europe and Asia, resident.
• Black swan (Cygnus atratus) - Australia, resident or nomad.
• Black Swan New Zealand (Cygnus sumnerensis†) - Possibly Chatham Islands, extinct in prehistoric times; also considered subspecies of Cygnus atratus (Cygnus atratus sumnerensis). In New Zealand the Australian form was subsequently introduced Cygnus atratus.
• Cisne cuellinegro (Cygnus melancoryphus- Southeast of South America, inverna in the north.
• Cisne coscoroba (Coscoroba coscoroba) - South and Central South America, inverna in the north.
• It could lead to confusion with the swan or goose-cisne aansar (Anser cygnoides), typical of East Asia, which is not exactly a swan.

Mythology

Leda with the swan.

The swan was a bird consecrated to Apollo, as the god of music, because it was believed that the swan sang melodiously just before dying. For this reason Pythagoras said that this bird resembled a soul that never dies and that its singing before dying comes from the joy it experiences because it is going to be released from its mortal body. Plato seems to be of the same opinion and some others say that it is consecrated to Apollo, because he enjoys the gift of foreseeing the goods of the other life which he hopes to enjoy after his death.

Ovid places the swans on the Champs Elysees. They were also consecrated to Venus, either because of her marvelous whiteness, or because of her temperament quite similar to that of the goddess of delight. The chariot of Venus is sometimes pulled by swans. Zeus transformed into this bird to trick Leda.