Black Swan vs Spectacled Eider
Cygnus atratus compared with Somateria fischeri
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Black Swan | Spectacled Eider |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Cygnus atratus | Somateria fischeri |
| Order | Anseriformes | Anseriformes |
| Family | Anatidae | Anatidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Near Threatened |
| Length | 130.0 cm (51.2 in) | — |
| Wingspan | 190.0 cm (74.8 in) | 49.2 cm (19.4 in) |
| Weight | 6200.0 g (218.70 oz) | 1443.75 g (50.93 oz) |
| Diet | Aquatic vegetation and algae, supplemented with grain and pasture grasses. Feeds by upending in shallow … | Dives for bivalves, crustaceans, and aquatic insects in shallow Arctic coastal and freshwater habitats. Insects … |
| Clutch Size | 4-6 | 1-9 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Black Swan
Lakes, rivers, swamps, and coastal waters across Australia. Also found in ornamental lakes in parks.
Song & Call Comparison
Black Swan
Gives a musical bugling 'boo-boo-boo' in flight and softer honking on water. Less vocal than Mute Swan; produces a baying call when alarmed. Wings whistle softly in flight.
Spectacled Eider
Male gives a low, melodious aah-ooo cooing; female produces a guttural, grunting call. The male's ghostly, organ-like cooing call carries across Arctic tundra ponds in the breeding season.
Geographic Range & Migration
Black Swan
Australia, primarily in the southeast and southwest. Introduced populations in New Zealand, Japan, and western Europe.
Spectacled Eider
Breeds on coastal tundra of western and northern Alaska. Winters along the Bering Sea coast from Alaska to Kamchatka. Largely sedentary.
Conservation Status
Black Swan
Spectacled Eider
How to Tell Them Apart
Black Swan
Almost entirely black with white flight feathers visible in flight. Red bill with a white band near the tip. Dark red to reddish-brown iris.
Bright red bill with a pale tip and prominent white band
Spectacled Eider
Male has white back and black breast with pale sage-green head framed by large white goggle-like spectacles edged black. Female mottled tawny-brown with faint spectacle outline.
About These Birds
Black Swan
The black swan was once considered impossible by Europeans who believed all swans were white, making it a famous philosophical example of inductive reasoning failure. It is the state emblem of Western Australia. Black swans form lifelong pair bonds and both parents share in incubation and care of cygnets.
Spectacled Eider
A medium-large sea duck of the family Anatidae, weighing ~1.4 kg with distinctive pale green goggles in males. Breeds on Arctic tundra of Alaska and Russia; winters in pack ice of the Bering Sea. Dives for benthic invertebrates and mollusks. Near Threatened due to population declines linked to lead poisoning and habitat change.