Whooper Swan

Cygnus cygnus

Eala Ghlórach

Conservation concern: Amber-listed (National, BoCCI)

Status: Winter migrant, occurring in Ireland between October & April.

Identification: Similar to Bewick's Swan, but larger, with longer neck. Yellow and black bill, with the yellow projecting below the nostril.

Call: Vocal bugling or honking.

Diet: Aquatic vegetation, but they are increasingly being recorded grazing on grass in pasture and spilt grain, as well as potatoes from cultivated land.

Breeding: Open shallow water, by coastal inlets, estuaries and rivers. The population occurring in Ireland breeds in Iceland.

Wintering: Most on lowland open farmland around inland wetlands, regularly seen while feeding on grasslands and stubble.

Where to see: Relatively widespread, especially north and west of a line between Limerick and Dublin. Lough Swilly & River Foyle (Co. Donegal) and Lough Foyle on the Donegal/Derry boundary, Lough Gara (Co. Sligo) and the Lough Oughter wetland complex all support greatest numbers (400-2,000 birds).

Monitored by: Irish Wetland Bird Survey (I-WeBS), and a special swan census is carried out every five years, the last in 2005. Please report any ring sightings to the Irish Whooper Swan Study Group. A satellite tracking project of Whooper Swans has recently begun, and they will be tracked from their breeding grounds in Iceland to their wintering grounds in Britain and Ireland.