Whooper swan: the noisy bird once hunted on a massive scale

The whooper swan is the loudest swan in Europe, and its return to Latvia shows that nature protection measures can work. The bird gives series of calls of three to four syllables, resembling a distant trumpet or horn in the fog. It uses its voice to mark its territory, and the call is also what distinguishes it from the more familiar mute swan, especially in flight. In flight the mute swan makes a loud whistling sound with its wings, while the whooper's wings are considerably quieter. In spring its calls can be confused with those of cranes. If the bill can be seen, it is yellow with a black tip.

The story of a comeback

A hundred years ago, these birds were shot in large numbers for meat in Scandinavia and Finland. In Sweden in the 1920s, only about 20 nesting pairs remained in hard-to-reach bogs, and in Finland the species nearly vanished. Sweden adopted a law protecting the whooper swan in 1927, and by the 1980s about 500 pairs nested there. The birds began spreading farther south.

In Latvia, the first whooper swan nest was found in 1973 at the Krauze ponds near Kazdanga. The birds first settled in Kurzeme, later also in Vidzeme. Today 430 to 600 pairs nest in Latvia. In 2005, when the Latvian Ornithological Society named the whooper swan Bird of the Year, Latvia hosted almost as many nesting birds of this species as all neighbouring countries combined.

Migration and flight

In autumn, swans from Scandinavia and northern Russia pass through Latvia. They feed on harvested fields and head to Denmark, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom for the winter. Some stay in Latvia if the waters do not freeze. At the end of March, up to 2,000 swans can be seen at the same time on floodplain meadows and fish ponds.

The whooper swan is also an excellent flier. It usually flies at 50–200 metres, though birds have been known to climb several kilometres high. Speeds reach up to 100 kilometres per hour, and swans have covered the distance from Iceland to Scotland over the sea in under 13 hours. Families fly together: young birds head south with their parents and sometimes return north with them. Young birds can be recognised by their grey plumage.