Meet the Zoo: Gabby and Gracie, the Black Swans

Move over Natalie Portman, there is another Black Swan in town.  In fact, there are two stunning Australian black swans living right in the heart of Brooklyn at the Prospect Park Zoo.

Gabby and Gracie epitomize the image of a swan – graceful and serene as they glide through the marsh on the Zoo’s Discovery Trail.  Their sleek black necks end with a brilliant red beak and their tail feathers are ruffled with silvery tips. They are as beautiful as any ballerina’s gown.

Once on land, these graceful swimmers waddle ungainly, exploring the marsh shore.  In the deeper water of the marsh, they will up-end (bottoms up) to feed on plants at the marsh floor. 

Still, it is Gabby and Gracie’s beauty that captures visitors as they watch the ducks and turtles on the marsh.  These big waterfowl steal the show when they glide into view, sometimes calling to visitors with soft trumpeting sounds.  At 5 and 4 years old, respectively, the two have spent their entire lives on the zoo’s peaceful marsh.

Until European explorers arrived in Australia, it was believed that all swans were white.  The swans’ discovery was exciting to explorers who brought them back to Europe to prove their existence.  They have the longest neck among all the swans, and like other swans, they are popular ornamental waterfowl. Black swans are also more social than other species of swan, some of whom can be downright mean.

Visitors at the Prospect Park Zoo can stop at the marsh and say g’day to Gabbie and Gracie. Those who buy a handful of chow from the nearby machines will see them glide beautifully across the marsh to say hello back.