Whooper swan
Cygnus cygnus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), also called the Whooping swan, is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It is a medium-sized bird by body mass, with a representative adult weight of 9.35 kg (from 8.75 to 14 kg across sources) and a wingspan of 2.29 m.
Quick facts about the whooper swan
The whooper swan is a migratory, aquatic herbivore of wetland habitat, with a geographic range of 17,100,000 km². It lays 1 clutch per year of 4.9 eggs, which are incubated for 35 days, and it reaches sexual maturity at 4 years.
- Weight
- 8.75 kg – 14 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 2.29 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 25.2 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 26.5 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 35 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.5 – 4.92src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.99 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the whooper swan?
Photos of the whooper swan
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the whooper swan live?
Not recorded
What is the whooper swan?
The whooper swan (/ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; Cygnus cygnus), is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan.
From the Wikipedia article “Whooper swan” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whooper_swan&oldid=1382070158), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the whooper swan sound like?
Is the whooper swan endangered?
The whooper swan is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the whooper swan classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusCygnus
- SpeciesCygnus cygnus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Anas cygnus, Anas musicus, Cygnus cygnus cygnus, Cygnus ferus, Cygnus islandicus, Cygnus linnéi, Cygnus musicus, Olor cygnus
Other names and names in other languages (104)
- Whooping swanEnglish
- SingswaanAfrikaans
- تم أبيضArabic
- تم صافرArabic
- تم ناعقArabic
- Cisne charraireAragonese
- Cisne GlayadorAsturian
- Haraycı qu quşuAzerbaijani
- Лебедзь-клікунBelarusian
- Лебедзь-клiкунBelarusian
- Поен лебедBulgarian
- Alarc'h kristilhBreton
- Alarc'h-kristilhBreton
- cigne cantaireCatalan
- Мырышы йӱксӹMari
- Кӑнтӑр акӑшӗChuvash
- labuť zpěvnáCzech
- alarch y gogleddWelsh
- Elyrch y GogleddWelsh
- SingschwanGerman
- ΑρκόκυκνοςGreek
- ΑγριόκυκνοςGreek
- KantocignoEsperanto
- kanta cignoEsperanto
- Cisne cantorSpanish
- laululuikEstonian
- Beltxarga oihulariBasque
- قوی فریادکشPersian
- laulujoutsenFinnish
- SvanurFaroese
- cygne sauvageFrench
- Cygne chanteurFrench
- SjongswaanNorthern Frisian
- KloekswanWestern Frisian
- Eala BhànScottish Gaelic
- Eala fhiadhaichScottish Gaelic
- eala ghlórachScottish Gaelic
- Cisne bravoGalician
- Ollay chiaulleeManx
- Žutokljuni labud - жутокљуни лабудSerbian (Latin)
- ברבור שרHebrew
- žutokljuni labudCroatian
- énekes hattyúHungarian
- Ճչան ԿարապArmenian
- ÁlftIcelandic
- cigno selvaticoItalian
- オオハクチョウJapanese
- მყივანი გედიGeorgian
- КъыуKabardian
- Xyykjn
- Сұңқылдақ аққуKazakh
- 큰고니Korean
- QussukCornish
- Ак кууKyrgyz
- Wëlle SchwanLuxembourgish
- Wëlle SchwunnLuxembourgish
- gulbė giesmininkėLithuanian
- ziemeļu gulbisLatvian
- йӱксӧMari
- жолтоклун лебедMacedonian
- ĊinjuMaltese
- Гангар хунMongolian
- sangsvaneNorwegian Bokmål
- wilde zwaanDutch
- songsvaneNorwegian Nynorsk
- Chin·nhe canteussePicard
- łabędź krzykliwyPolish
- ووپر سوانWestern Panjabi
- cisne-bravoPortuguese
- Cign selvadiRomansh
- lebăda de iarnăRomanian
- Lebădă de iarnăRomanian
- лебедь-кликунRussian
- Кликун лебидьRusyn
- КубаYakut
- NjukčaNorthern Sami
- нюххчsjd
- njukktjasje
- labuť spevaváSlovak
- labod pevecSlovenian
- njoktjeSouthern Sami
- snjuktjaLule Sami
- njuhčâInari Sami
- njuhččSkolt Sami
- mjellnaAlbanian
- mjellma qafëdrejtëAlbanian
- mjellmjaAlbanian
- Mjelma qafëdrejtëAlbanian
- shqitëzaAlbanian
- Veliki labudSerbian
- Велики лабудSerbian
- Велики лабуд - Veliki labudSerbian
- sångsvanSwedish
- หงส์ฮูเปอร์Thai
- otucu kuguTurkish
- ötücü kuğuTurkish
- Эткир уннуг кууTuvinian
- Лебідь-кликунUkrainian
- چیختا راج ہنسUrdu
- Thiên nga lớnVietnamese
- 大天鵝Chinese
- 大天鹅Chinese
- 黃嘴天鵝Chinese
- 黃嘴天鵝〔大天鵝〕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the whooper swan
Other species in the same genus Cygnus.
Mute swan
Cygnus olor
Black swan
Cygnus atratus
Tundra swan
Cygnus columbianus
Black-necked swan
Cygnus melancoryphus
Trumpeter swan
Cygnus buccinator
CompareWhooper swan vs Mute swanWhooper swan vs Black swanWhooper swan vs Tundra swanWhooper swan vs Black-necked swan
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the whooper swan?
The whooper swan is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup. It belongs to the family Anatidae and the order Anseriformes.
How heavy is a whooper swan?
An adult Whooper swan weighs 9.35 kg as a representative value, with reported values from 8.75 to 14 kg. Its wingspan is 2.29 m.
What does the whooper swan eat?
The whooper swan is a herbivore. It has an aquatic lifestyle in wetland habitat.
Is the whooper swan endangered?
No. The whooper swan is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a whooper swan live?
The whooper swan has a lifespan of 25 years, with values up to 26.5 years reported.
How many eggs does a whooper swan lay?
A whooper swan lays 4.9 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 35 days.
Is the whooper swan migratory?
Yes, the whooper swan is migratory. Its geographic range covers 17,100,000 km².
Who named the whooper swan?
The whooper swan, Cygnus cygnus, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/whooper-swan
“Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/whooper-swan.
@misc{whooper_swan_2026,
title = {Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/whooper-swan},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}