The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Old World counterpart of the North American Trumpeter Swan.
Description
The Whooper Swan is similar in appearance to the Bewick's Swan. However, it is larger, at a length of 140-160 cm (55-63 in), a wingspan of 205-235 cm (81-93 in) and a weight range of 8-15 kg (17.6-33 lbs). It has a more angular head shape and a more variable bill pattern that always shows more yellow than black (Bewick's Swans have more black than yellow).
Distribution and behaviour
Whooper swans require large areas of water to live in, especially when they are still growing, because their body weight cannot be supported by their legs for extended periods of time. The whooper swan spends much of its time swimming, straining the water for food, or eating plants that grow on the bottom.
Whooper swans have a deep honking call and, despite their size, are powerful fliers. Whooper swans can migrate many hundreds of miles to their wintering sites in northern Europe and eastern Asia. They breed in subarctic Eurasia, further south than Bewick's in the taiga zone. They are rare breeders in northern Scotland, particularly in Orkney, and no more than five pairs have bred there in recent years. This bird is an occasional vagrant to western North America. Icelandic breeders overwinter in England and Ireland, especially in the wildfowl nature reserves of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
Whooper swans pair for life, and their cygnets stay with them all winter; they are sometimes joined by offspring from previous years. Their preferred breeding habitat is wetland, but semi-domesticated birds will build a nest anywhere close to water. Both the male and female help build the nest, and the male will stand guard over the nest while the female incubates. The female will usually lay 4-7 eggs (exceptionally 12). The cygnets hatch after about 36 days and have a grey or brown plumage. The cygnets can fly at an age of 120 to 150 days.
Whooper Swans are much admired in European culture.
Other information
- The global spread of H5N1 reached the UK in April 2006 in the form of a dead Whooper Swan found in Scotland.
- The Whooper Swan is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
- The Whooper Swan is also the national bird of Finland and is featured on the Finnish 1 euro coin.
- An old name for the Whooper Swan is Elk; it is so called in Francis Willughby and John Ray's Ornithology of 1676.
Sources
- ^ BirdLife International (2004). Cygnus cygnus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 9 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- ^ a b (1988) in Mondadori, Arnoldo: Great Book of the Animal Kingdom. New York: Arch Cape Press, 182.
- ^ "Bird flu swan was from outside UK", BBC News (April 11, 2006).
Further reading
- Whooper swans video Whooper swans in wintertime
- Whooper Swan Hoatzin videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Youtube Whooper Swan Video
