RESIDENTS have been doing a double take on the seafront after spotting a very rare BLACK swan. The bird, which is native to Australia, is believed to have escaped from a private collection.

It has been having a whale of a time paddling about on the seafront and making friends with the town's white feathered variety.

Black swans are the state bird of Western Australia and they were brought to the UK as ornamental birds, like peacocks and golden pheasants.

The Advertiser has been inundated with readers sending in their snaps of the rare bird, which was spotted last week.

Eric Spaven, 43, could hardly believe his eyes when he noticed the bird while out walking his dog on Friday morning.

The Craigendoran man said: "It was at Craigendoran bay and I thought I was seeing things at first as I didn't even know black swans existed. I thought it might have been the light to begin with but it was clear that there were five swans in total, four white and one black.

"I took pictures on my phone and was a tad confused about where it came from." Black swans have similar habitat requirements to mute swans and are often found in the same areas.

They are also similar in size and appear all black when swimming but they have white primary wing feathers, which can be seen in flight. The bill is red with a broad white band on the tip.

Steve Chadwin, of Helensburgh Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), said he hadn't heard of any black swans in Scotland and believes that the bird has found its way here from England or even as far as somewhere in the continent.

He said: "It is obviously an escaped bird from a private collection.

"It was still there this morning just to the west of the pier.

"It certainly seems happy enough and has plenty of food. It is just sitting on the edge of the water and paddling about.

"It will have possibly come from a wildlife park where they have got collections of birds and animals, maybe in England or even somewhere on the continent as it seems to be very fit." A spokesman for the RSPB added: "There is probably a very worried owner somewhere.

"The wings and feathers are quite often clipped but this has not happened here."