Cygnus cygnus (Information about this image)
Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Euornithes
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Ornithurae
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Pangalloanserae
Cladus: Galloanseres
Ordo: Anseriformes
Familia: Anatidae
Subfamilia: Anserinae
Genus: Cygnus
Species: Cygnus cygnus
Name
Cygnus cygnus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Anas cygnus (protonym)
Cygnus cygnus
References
Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiæ: impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii. i–ii, 1–824 pp DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.542: 122. Reference page.
Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Singswaan
العربية: تم ناعق
asturianu: Cisne Glayador
azərbaycanca: Haraycı qu quşu
беларуская: Лебедзь-клікун
български: Поен лебед
brezhoneg: Alarc'h kristilh
català: Cigne cantaire
čeština: Labuť zpěvná
Cymraeg: Alarch y Gogledd
dansk: Sangsvane
Deutsch: Singschwan
Ελληνικά: Αρκόκυκνος
English: Whooper Swan
Esperanto: Kantocigno
español: Cisne Cantor
eesti: Laululuik
euskara: Beltxarga oihulari
فارسی: قوی فریادکش
suomi: Laulujoutsen
føroyskt: Svanur
Nordfriisk: Sjongswaan
français: Cygne chanteur
Frysk: Kloekswan
Gaeilge: Eala ghlórach
Gàidhlig: Eala Bhàn
galego: Cisne bravo
Gaelg: Ollay Chiaullee
עברית: ברבור שר
hrvatski: Žutokljuni Labud
magyar: Énekes hattyú
հայերեն: Ճչան Կարապ
íslenska: Álft
italiano: Cigno selvatico
日本語: オオハクチョウ
ქართული: მყივანი გედი
қазақша: Сұңқылдақ аққу
kalaallisut: Qussuk
한국어: 큰고니
кыргызча: Ак куу
Limburgs: Wilde zwaan
lietuvių: Gulbė giesmininkė
latviešu: Ziemeļu gulbis
македонски: Жолтоклун лебед
монгол: Гангар хун
Malti: Ċinju
Nederlands: Wilde zwaan
norsk nynorsk: Songsvane
norsk: Sangsvane
polski: Łabędź krzykliwy
پنجابی: ووپر سوان
português: Cisne-bravo
rumantsch: Cign selvadi
русский: Лебедь-кликун
саха тыла: Куба
davvisámegiella: Njukča
srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски: Žutokljuni labud - жутокљуни лабуд
slovenčina: Labuť spevavá
slovenščina: Labod pevec
shqip: Mjelma qafëdrejtë
српски / srpski: Велики лабуд - Veliki labud
svenska: Sångsvan
ไทย: หงส์ฮูเปอร์
Türkçe: Ötücü kuğu
українська: Лебідь-кликун
اردو: چیختا راج ہنس
Tiếng Việt: Thiên nga lớn
中文: 大天鹅
The whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), also known as the common swan, pronounced hooper swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genus Cygnus.
Taxonomy
Francis Willughby and John Ray's Ornithology of 1676 referred to this swan as "the Elk, Hooper, or wild Swan".[2]: 23 It was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Anas cygnus.[3] The species name is from cygnus, the Latin for "swan".[4]
Description
Head detail
The whooper swan is similar in appearance to Bewick's swan. It is larger, however, at a length of 140–165 centimetres (55–65 inches) and a wingspan of 205–275 cm (81–108 in). The weight is typically in the range of 7.4–14.0 kilograms (16+1⁄4–30+3⁄4 pounds), with an average of 9.8–11.4 kg (21+1⁄2–25+1⁄4 lb) for males and 8.2–9.2 kg (18–20+1⁄4 lb) for females. The verified record mass was 15.5 kg (34+1⁄4 lb) for a wintering male from Denmark. It is considered to be amongst the heaviest flying birds.[5][6] Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 56.2–63.5 cm (22+1⁄8–25 in), the tarsus is 10.4–13.0 cm (4+3⁄32–5+1⁄8 in) and the bill is 9.2–11.6 cm (3.6–4.6 in).[7] 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). Like their close relatives, whooper swans are vocal birds with a call similar to the trumpeter swan.
Three whooper swans and one mute swan
Distribution and habitat
Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
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.[8]
Whooper swans have a deep honking call and, despite their size, are powerful fliers. Whooper swans can migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles to their wintering sites in southern Europe and eastern Asia. They breed in subarctic Eurosiberia, further south than Bewicks 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; a handful of pairs have also bred in Ireland in recent years. This bird is an occasional vagrant to the Indian Subcontinent[9] and western North America. Icelandic breeders overwinter in the United Kingdom 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.
When whooper swans prepare to go on a flight as a flock, they use a variety of signaling movements to communicate with each other. These movements include head bobs, head shakes, and wing flaps and influence whether the flock will take flight and if so, which individual will take the lead.[10] Whooper swans that signaled with these movements in large groups were found to be able to convince their flock to follow them 61% of the time.[10] In comparison, swans that did not signal were only able to create a following 35% of the time.[10] In most cases, the whooper swan in the flock that makes the most movements (head bobs) is also the swan that initiates the flight of the flock – this initiator swan can be either male or female, but is more likely to be a parent than a cygnet.[10] Additionally, this signaling method may be a way for paired mates to stay together in flight. Observational evidence indicates that a swan whose mate is paying attention to and participates in its partner's signals will be more likely to follow through with the flight. Thus, if a whooper swan begins initiating flight signals, it will be less likely to actually carry through with the flight if its mate is not paying attention and is therefore less likely to join it.[10]
They are very noisy; the calls are strident, similar to those of Bewick's swan but more resonant and lower-pitched on average: kloo-kloo-kloo in groups of three or four.
Influence
Whooper swans are much admired in Europe.[8] The whooper swan has been the national bird of Finland since 1981[11][12] and is featured on the Finnish 1 euro coin. The whooper swan is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. Musical utterances by whooper swans at the moment of death have been suggested as the origin of the swan song legend. The global spread of H5N1 reached the UK in April 2006 in the form of a dead whooper swan found in Scotland.[13]
References
BirdLife International (2016). "Cygnus cygnus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22679856A85965262. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22679856A85965262.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
Willughby, Francis (1676). Ornithologiae libri tres [Ornithology, Book Three] (in Latin). London: John Martyn.
Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata (in Latin). Holmiae (Stockholm, Sweden): Laurentius Salvius. p. 122.
Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Brazil, Mark (2003). The Whooper Swan. Christopher Helm Ornithology. ISBN 978-0-7136-6570-3.
Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (1992). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-4258-5.
Madge, Steve (1992). Waterfowl: An Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-395-46726-8.
Mondadori, Arnoldo, ed. (1988). Great Book of the Animal Kingdom. New York: Arch Cape Press. pp. 182–183.
"Whooper Swan sighted in Himachal Wetland after 113 years. | Hill Post". Hillpost.in. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
Black, J. (2010). "Preflight Signaling in Swans: A Mechanism for Group Cohesion and Flock Formation" (PDF). Ethology. 79 (2): 143–157. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1988.tb00707.x.
"Whooper Swan". wwf.panda.org. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
"Laulujoutsen tuli erämaista koko Suomen kansallislinnuksi". Suomen Luonto.
"Bird flu swan was from outside UK". BBC News. 11 April 2006.
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