Whooper Swan

Whooper Swan
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Genus: Cygnus Species: cygnus'
Binomial name
Cygnus cygnus

Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Old World counterpart of the North American Trumpeter Swan.

Whooper is similar in appearance to the Bewick's Swan, but larger, longer-necked and with a more angular head shape, with variable bill pattern, but always showing more yellow than black (the other way round with Bewick's Swans).

Their breeding habitat is wetland. They pair for life, and their cygnets stay with them all winter; they are sometimes joined by offspring from previous years.

Whooper Swans breed in subarctic Eurasia, further south than Bewick's in the taiga zone. They are migratory wintering in northern Europe and eastern Asia.

Icelandic breeders overwinter in England and Ireland, especially in the wildfowl reserves of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

These birds feed mainly by grazing on farmland on coasts or inland flood plains. They have a deep honking call.