family of adult and juvenile Whooper Swan cygnus cygnus swans in lake water
horizontal photo of a family of adult and juvenile Whooper Swan cygnus cygnus swans in lake water in England UK. The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Old World counterpart of the North American Trumpeter Swan. 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). 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. 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.
Size: 5067px × 3374px
Photo credit: © Michael Sayles / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 5, adult, adults, avian, bewick, bewicks, bird, children, cygnuc, cygnus, family, floatilla, flu, fowl, graceful, journey, juvenile, juveniles, kids, lake, majestic, nature, nurture, parents, swan, swans, swim, swimming, trip, unit, walk, water, whooper, wild, wildfowl, wooper
