Swans are the largest of all waterfowl. They eat sub-aquatic foliage that it can reach under water using its long neck. Black swans are mostly black. Some of the wing feathers are white. They also have reddish or pinkish irises and richly colored red bills with a white line. The juveniles are greyish brown with light tipped feathers and a lighter colored bill. As with many birds, there is sexual dimorphism where the male (called a "cob") is slightly larger than the female (called a "pen"). When they are fully grown they have a length of 110 to 140 cm and weigh between 3700 to 8750g. The wingspan ranges between 160 to 200cm. Black swans live in lakes, rivers and swampland, which can be fresh, salt or brackish water. They prefer habitats with aquatic vegetation. While their natural habitat is aquatic they are sometimes found in terrestrial areas such as dry pastures or flooded fields when food is scarce. Black swans are monogamous and often have the same mate for life. Both male and female black swans incubate the eggs. Chicks are precocial and can swim and feed soon after hatching. They may ride on their parents' backs when they venture into deep water. (Source: University of Michigan, 2014.), (Image: Kim Wormald).

The Australian Wood Duck is a medium-sized 'goose-like' duck with a dark brown head and a pale grey body with two black stripes along the back. Males have the darker head and a small dark mane, with a speckled brown-grey breast and a black lower belly and undertail. The females have a paler head with two white stripes, above and below the eye, a speckled breast and flanks, with a white lower belly and undertail. In flight, the wings are pale grey above, contrasting with black wingtips, and have a noticeable white bar on the underside (the secondaries). They walk easily on land and may be seen perching on logs and in trees. They will only take to open water when disturbed. The Australian Wood Duck is found in grasslands, open woodlands, wetlands, flooded pastures and along the coast in inlets and bays. It is also common on farmland with dams, as well as around rice fields, sewage ponds and in urban parks. It will often be found around deeper lakes that may be unsuitable for other waterbirds' foraging, as it prefers to forage on land. The Australian Wood Duck eats grasses, clover and other herbs, and occasionally, insects. It is rarely seen on open water, preferring to forage by dabbling in shallow water, or in grasslands and crops. (Source: Australian Museum, 2018.), (Image: Neil Hawkins).

The Australian Shellduck (Tadorna tadornoides) is a mainly black bird with white and chestnut markings. Male and female adults are approximately similar in colouring. Males have a black head and neck (often glossed green) with a broad, white ring at the base of the neck. Breast is buff but in eclipse males the breast is paler coloured (59 to 72 centimetres, span 1 to 1.3 metres). Females are slightly smaller (55 to 68 centimetres) with a white ring around the eye and around the base of the bill; the white band around the neck is thinner, sometimes not present. Females have slightly darker coloured breast. In both sexes, the bill is black, eye dark brown, legs and feet dusky. Neck ring is less clearly defined in non-breeding birds. Rump and tail black, underside dark with prominent white panels visible on the wings in flight. They live in pairs and family parties or large flocks in which pairs persist. Grazes on short green grass; in shallow water dabbles or upends to reach plants on the bottom. They graze on grasses, clovers and herbs, as well as duck-weed, sedges, pondweed, ribbon weed and algae. Insects and molluscs are also taken. Flocks rest in loose groups at the edge, or in the middle, of large water bodies. They swim strongly, often high on the water, but seldom dive except to escape danger during the moulting period when they cannot fly. They can walk fast and well. If disturbed they rise quickly with a harsh warning call; on a small lake they leave the area entirely, on a large body of water they settle in the centre in a large raft and swim back to the former resting place later. (Source: Australian Bush Birds, n.d.), (Image: M. Dahlem).