The winning names Pearl and Onyx were selected for the female and male black swans through a popular vote on the zoo’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
The two names won out against Swan Jovi and Swania Twain, which came in second, and Odile and Siegfried, which finished last.
The two birds hatched in April 2022 on a farm in northern Indiana, according to the John Ball Zoo. They arrived in the spring at the zoo as juveniles with brown feathers and have since molted into adults with black plumage.
In a press release, area curator for the zoo Dan Hemmann called the swans “cold-hardy animals” and expects them to live happy lives at the zoo.
“The black swans’ habitat is located by the entryway to the Zoo, so they are the first animals people see when they visit,” Hemmann said in the release. “People may even be able to catch glimpses of these beautiful birds from outside the Zoo. We hope the community will join us in welcoming Pearl and Onyx to our John Ball Zoo family.”
The birds, which are native to Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, will live in a habitat that has access to a large pool and a body of land. The area is viewable from behind glass and is enclosed with mesh sides. The zoo says the birds will also have access to a secluded indoor habitat with a pool to keep warm during inclement weather.