COSCOROBA SWAN

Coscoroba Swan is the smallest swan in the world and a bit of an anomaly. White with the merest of black wing tips they resemble a slim domestic goose with a duck’s bill but with a distinct swan-like vibe. Current genetic studies seem to indicate that they are a sister group to the equally odd Cape Barren Goose. Along with the aforementioned goose, the Coscoroba Swan is a southern South American species breeding in southern Chile, central Argentina south to Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. It spends the winter further north towards the southernmost tip of Brazil. The key habitats that they favour include lagoons and freshwater marshes in which they tend to be retiring denizens. You may be wondering where the name Coscoroba came from. Well, it’s an onomatopoeia for the honking, goose-like call that the bird produces that is rendered as ‘cos-cor-ooo’. So now you know!