The Black-necked swan glides across the frigid waters of a Patagonian lagoon, its white body and black head creating a stunning, high-contrast image against the muted greens and browns of the reedy shore. This species, unique among the southern swans, wears its most distinctive feature right on its pink legs. Though often celebrated for their elegance and loyalty—swans generally mate for life—they are also the largest members of the waterfowl family, with some individuals like the Trumpeter swan reaching wingspans of over 3.1 meters. Unlike their famous Northern Hemisphere cousins, the Mute swans, which are prone to awkward waddles on land, the Whooper swan walks remarkably well. All swans are powerful fliers, with migratory species able to travel hundreds of miles, sometimes at speeds reaching 96 km/h. They build huge nests, often a meter across, right at the water's edge, where the male (a cob) and female (a pen) share the duty of incubating the three to eight eggs. The myth of the melodic 'swan song' persists, yet scientifically, there's no evidence that the birds sing before they die; their reality is far more grounded in aquatic efficiency, using their serrated bills to filter plants and small aquatic life.

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