In New Zealand, Black Swans usually molt January-February during which time they are flightless. Based on the dark tips to the primaries and secondaries, this individual is a young bird with retained juvenile flight feathers. It was part of a flock consisting of both adults and young which had not started molt. This species is native to Australia but there is historical evidence that it occurred naturally in New Zealand before European settlement. They were reintroduced from Australia in the 1860s. More recently, the New Zealand population appears to be declining partly because of pollution of lowland lakes.
