Only a handful of unusual
species thought to be living in the wild in Britain
A rare black swan has been spotted more than 9,000
miles from its native habitat drifting down a river in the West Midlands.
The species, which originated
in Australia,
is common in wildlife parks in the UK, but is rarely sighted in the wild.
However, Sylvia Herbert was
able to photograph the creature as it floated on the River Severn in Worcester on Thursday.
The 70-year-old said the area of
the river in which she saw the animal is often filled with dozens of water
birds, but added she had never spotted a black swan there in three decades
living in the city.
“It is quite aggressive - we had
actually stopped and I was taking pictures of the cygnets -when we saw this
black swan come right up to the side,” she said.
“It doesn’t seem to like the
other swans as it keeps chasing them. Black swans are
rather striking, they have a different call to the mute swans.
“I’ve lived in the city for more
than 30 years but I’ve never seen a black one before. It looks rather beautiful
and a rare treat.”
The small number of black swans
living wild in the UK are ancestors of birds either
released or escaped from captivity.
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