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A pair of whooper swans in flight through fog over water

Whooper swan

Whooper swans are large migratory birds that often fly in large 'V' formations. They can be distinguished from Bewick swans by their larger size, and from mute swans by their yellow bill colour.

Scientific name: Cygnus cygnus

Rank: Species

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Whooper swan taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Whooper swan can be found in a number of locations including: Arctic, Asia, Europe, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Whooper swan distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Least Concern

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Year assessed: 2009

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The Whooper Swan (pronounced hooper), Cygnus cygnus, is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American Trumpeter Swan. An old name for the Whooper Swan is 'Elk'; it is so called in Francis Willughby and John Ray's Ornithology of 1676.

Read more at Wikipedia

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Classification

  1. Life
  2. Animals
  3. Vertebrates
  4. Birds
  5. Anseriformes
  6. Ducks, geese and swans
  7. Swans
  8. Whooper swan

BBC News about Whooper swan

  • UK's biggest swan count under way This weekend sees the start of the UK's biggest ever swan survey, part of an international effort to monitor the health of swan populations.

Video collections

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