The World of XPILAR - B&W PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART CONTEST WEEK #080 ~ Swans

Swans are elegant large birds that spend most of their lives on the water, they belong to the duck family. Males grow up to 12 kg and a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters, red-billed swans are among the heaviest flying birds.
They feed on aquatic vegetation but also on insects, small crabs and tadpoles, they can eat about 3 to 4 pounds of food a day.

Swans are monogamous animals that remain faithful to the same partner throughout their lives.
During the winter they court, during which two swans give life to a real dance on the water, characteristic sounds and sensual movements of the neck.
Males and females then swim together by dipping their beaks into the water several times and crossing their necks into a kind of seal of love.
They nest on piles of twigs and leaves that build up in shallow water along the edge of a lake or canal. The female lays 5 to 8 bluish eggs, they hatch after 35 days.

These swans live in the canal of St. Anthony where the river Krka flows into the sea, they run through the canal all the way to the city center and the main habitat and nests are somewhere closer to the mouth of the river.

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