Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) Species Guide: Appearance, Diet, Habitat, Behavior, Stats, And Conservation Status

Species Guide: Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)
Family: Anatidae

APPEARANCE

The Whooper is a large swan, predominantly white, with a black bill and triangular-shaped yellow bill patch. Their legs and webbed feet are black. Their stance is very upright, holding their necks straight.

Diet

Their diet consists mainly of aquatic plants, which they gather using their long necks to reach vegetation in shallow waters. They will also opportunistically eat aquatic animals such as small fish and frogs. When feeding on farmland, they are known to eat discarded grains and potatoes. They can also use their webbed feet to access roots and tubers that are just below the surface.

HABITAT

The Whooper Swan is a regular winter visitor to the British Isles from Northern Europe and can be found almost anywhere in the country from late Autumn to late Spring. There are increasing occurrences of summer-breeding birds, which is an indication of a gradual expansion in their breeding range. 

They favor open shallow water such as lochs and ponds. But will also inhabit estuaries, rivers, and coastal inlets. During the winter, they will sometimes shelter inland, particularly in open farmland and on floodplains. 

Behavior

The Whooper Swan has several deep honking and trumpeting calls. When migrating, they will often form flocks in a V-formation, during which they are typically vocal to keep in contact with each other.

Whoopers are sociable birds, particularly in winter when they will form into large congregations of several hundred swans. They are quite shy, particularly around humans. They pair for life and typically have a single brood each year. Both the male and female construct a nest near water. The nest is a mound structure made from plant materials and lined with moss, lichen, and feathers. A brood consists of up to 7 eggs that are incubated by the female for just over a month. Once hatched, the cygnets take up to 5 months to be fully fledged. 

Biometrics

Key Biometrics of the Whooper Swan:

NATURAL PREDATORS

Adult Whooper Swans don’t have any natural predators due to the sheer size and strength of the bird. During the breeding season, their eggs and cygnets can be a target for White-tailed Eagles, Gulls, Foxes, and the American Mink.

Conservation Status

Whooper Swans are Amber Listed in the UK due to the low numbers of resident breeding birds. They are classified as Least Concern by the International Union For The Conservation of Nature.²

U.K.
Conservation Status

Global
Conservation Status

Related Articles

CITATIONS

1. Dunning, John B. Jr., 2nd Edition. CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses. [Accessed 21/03/2025]  ↩︎
2. IUCN Redlist [Accessed 21/03/2025] ↩︎

REFERENCES

1. Madge, Steve. Wildfowl: An Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 1992. ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 21/03/2025].