Black Swans

The Black Swan is the most social and least territorial of all swans. The non-migratory birds nest in rather loose colonies in Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden. The world thought swans were just white until Australia was colonized in 1697. Black Swans begin their lifelong partnership shortly after they become a year old. Both male and female Black Swans share in the incubation duties.

I have listed some interesting titles that include black swan in the title or as the subject matter, including nonfiction, fiction, and a music cd.

The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable
Nassim Taleb
An applied statistician calls rare, life-changing events that have massive impact "black swans".

The Medici Giraffe: And Other Tales of Exotic Animals and Power
Marina Belozerskaya
Author surveys history for arresting tales of black swans, giraffes, and other exotic animals.

The Black Swan: Memory, Midlife, and Migratory Birds
Ann Batterson
In spare, well-crafted prose, this mid-life memoir recounts a cross-country trip alone in a VW bus to look at migrating birds. The book shares both title and theme with Thomas Mann's novel about a woman's fear of aging.

The Black Swan
Mercedes Lackey
In this re-telling of the German folktale, Odile, the daughter of a vengeful sorcerer, lives on an isolated medieval estate with her father's prisoners, unfaithful young women who are swans by day and human while the moon shines.

Black Swan Green: a Novel
David Mitchell
Charming study of a time and a place: small-town England in the early 1980s, seen through the eyes of a boy stranded in the hot zone of adolescence.

White Swan, Black Swan: Stories
Adrienne Sharp
Former dancer explores both the exultation and the physical and emotional stresses of professional ballet.

Hang on Little Tomato
Pink Martini
“Song of the Black Swan”
Lush instrumental by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.