Black Swan
The Black Swan is the Western Australian Bird Emblem.
Swans are large water birds, the family of which also includes ducks and geese.
They measure up to about 1.4 metres in length and can weigh up to 9 kg, they are black with a line of white feathers on the edges of the wings that can sometimes be seen when the bird is resting or preening, and are easily seen when the swan is in flight.
They are vegetarians; they eat plants and weeds either in the water using their long necks to reach under the water or occasionally they will graze on the land.
They use calls and visual signals to communicate, they make a musical call like a trumpet sound as well as a range of softer crooning notes, they will also whistle, especially when disturbed while breeding and nesting.
Breeding time is usually from February to September.
They normally stay in pairs when mating but do occasionally mate in colonies.
Both parents build the nest and the female lays up to ten eggs, which take about 40 days to hatch and then both parents care for the young, which are called cygnets.
They are monogamous and often have the same mate for life.
Until Dutch explorers came to the Great South Land in the 17th century and saw the black variety people in Europe believed that all swans were white.
They breed mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia, but are found throughout the country except for the far north and the dry interior.
The Black Swan has been a symbol of Western Australia for a long time, it is featured on the State Badge and on the Western Australia Coat of Arms.
The colony in Western Australia was originally called the Swan River Settlement.
Swans are a protected species in Australia.
The Black Swan was proclaimed the
Western Australia
Bird Emblem in 1973
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"The Legend of Bimi"
Introduction
There's a tale that begins in the sand hills
That I would like to tell,
Built from myth and many legends,
And my pen it does compel.
The desert's a hot, a hostile place,
Nothing's changed since time began,
There's a hazy unreality there
As if it, in the dreamtime was planned.
The noon of the day is so hot and still,
And over all an expectant hush,
Like a canvas that's waiting impatiently
For the touch of the artists brush.
The fire of the day can change swifly
To the night of startlingly cold,
Many legends are told of the people
Who live in this land so old.
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"The Legend of Bimi" just go to our
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