FEATHERS were rustled in Worcester after a rare black swan floated into the city.

The striking bird, native to Australia, is popular with wildlife parks but is rarely seen in the wild in this country.

This photo was taken by Sylvia Herbert, of St John’s, who spotted the bird on the River Seven, near Bromwich Parade, last Thursday.

She said: “We were doing the giraffe trail walk and we had nearly finished. We just came back on the west side and we were having a little rest when we noticed the black swan amongst the other white ones. It is quite aggressive - we had actually stopped and I was taking pictures of the cygnets -when we saw this black swan come right up to the side. It doesn’t seem to like the other swans as it keeps chasing them.”

She added that the bird had a different call to the mute swans.

In January 2012, we reported a sighting of a black swan on the river at Upton-upon-Severn.