Whooper Swan

Cygnus cygnus

Flies around 1,000 miles nonstop from Iceland to Britain. Trumpets loudly on arrival, so your recipient always knows.

Population: ~176,000 mature individuals, increasing (IUCN 2025 assessment)
Habitat: Breeds on shallow freshwater lakes, marshes, reedbeds, tundra and taiga wetlands; in the non-breeding season uses large water bodies, agricultural fields, and coastal wetlands
Fun fact: The whooper swan has been Finland's national bird since 1981 and its image appears on the Finnish 1-euro coin.
Range: Breeds across the Palearctic from Iceland and Scandinavia through Russia to Mongolia and eastern Siberia; winters in Western and Central Europe, the Mediterranean, Middle East, Central and South Asia (e.g. Afghanistan, India, Pakistan), and East Asia (China, Japan, Korea); rare vagrant to North America
Diet: Aquatic vegetation obtained by upending or dabbling in shallow water (roots, tubers, and submerged/emergent plants), supplemented in winter by grazing on grasses, waste grain, and root crops in agricultural fields
Size: 1.5 m
Wingspan: 2.4 m
Lifespan: 15 years

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