Whooper Swan

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Whooper Swan, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Amber listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	Yes
Birds Directive Annex 1	No
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(I), WBD(II*), Bern(III), Bonn(II), AEWA

The Whooper Swan is predominantly a winter visitor to the UK with wintering numbers increasing in line with increases in the Icelandic breeding population (link to WeBS; Brides et al. 2021). It is a scarce breeding species for which numbers are monitored by the RBBP. Numbers have increased strongly over the 25 years to 2019 with around 30 pairs now breeding, mostly in Scotland (Eaton et al. 2021).

UK winter population

+203% increase (1996/97–2021/22)

The general pattern of winter distribution of the Whooper Swan remains consistent with the 1981–84 Winter Atlas, with the largest numbers of occupied squares in more northerly areas of both Britain and Ireland. There are relatively few records of breeding Whooper Swans in Britain and Ireland. The map of breeding distribution shows confirmed records in southeast England, the northern part of Ireland and Scotland. Some are known to stem from injured birds remaining to summer and breed but confirmed records on Shetland and the Outer Hebrides, could reflect an expansion in the species breeding range.

The winter change map shows that much of the central and north central areas in Ireland, and south and central Scotland, remained occupied during both winter atlases. Some range expansion in southern areas is evident, particularly in southeast England. Range increases of 35% and a 16% were identified in Britain and Ireland respectively. These results are consistent with an increase in the Icelandic breeding population of the Whooper Swan, which winters exclusively in Britain & Ireland.

Whooper Swans are most often seen in winter, but can occasionally be seen in the breeding season: some injured wintering birds remain to summer, and there is also a small northern breeding population.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	28 years 2 months 10 days (set in 2009)
Typical Lifespan	9 years with breeding typically at 4 year
Adult Survival	0.801

Ring size	M*
Field Codes	2-letter: WS | 5-letter code: WHOSW | Euring: 1540

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

The cause of the increase in breeding records is unclear. Some breeding records result from injured birds being unable to migrate back to Iceland, but others may reflect an expansion of the breeding range resulting from the growth of the Icelandic population (Balmer et al. 2013, Eaton et al. 2021). The population and range in Fennoscandia is also increasing, and the increases of both populations have been attributed to protection from hunting and the availability of agricultural land as a source of food during winter (Deinet et al. 2013, Eaton et al. 2021).