Whooper Swan
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| Cygnus cygnus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Old World counterpart of the North American Trumpeter Swan.
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[edit] Description
The Whooper Swan is similar in appearance to the Bewick's Swan. However, it is larger, at 140-160cm length and a 205-235cm wingspan. 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).
[edit] Distribution and behaviour
Whooper Swans breed in subarctic Eurasia, further south than Bewick's in the taiga zone. 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.
They are migratory wintering in northern Europe and eastern Asia. They are rare breeders in northern Scotland, particularly in Orkney, but no more than five pairs have bred 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.
These birds feed mainly by grazing on farmland on coasts or inland flood plains. They have a deep honking call.
[edit] Other information
- The global spread of H5N1 reached the UK in April 2006 in the form of a dead Whooper Swan found in Scotland.[2]
- 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.
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[edit] Sources
- ^ BirdLife International (2004). Cygnus cygnus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- ^ "Bird flu swan was from outside UK", BBC News, April 11, 2006.
[edit] Further reading
- Whooper Swan Hoatzin videos on the Internet Bird Collection
