WESTERN ISLES BIRDS

As large as a Mute Swan the Whooper swan and bigger than a Bewick Swan it is a Winter Visitor to the British Isles. The swans come here tom their breeding grounds in Iceland and Scandinavia.

The whooper swan has a long thin neck, which it holds erect. It has black legs. Its black bill has a large triangular patch of yellow on it. ( Mute swans bill is orange and black, a bewick swan has more black than yellow on its bill - whereas the whooper swan has more yellow than black)

These swans are creatures of habitat and individual swans will return to the same communal wintering sites year after year. Wetland habitats, mainly shallow lochs and coastal flats where these birds can be seen in The Western Isles.

The whopper swans feed mainly on aquatic vegetation.

Whooper swans have a deep honking call

Whooper swans pair for life, and their cygnets stay with them all winter; they are sometimes joined by offspring from previous years.

They prefer to breed in wetlands, but semi-domesticated birds will build a nest anywhere close to water.

The male and the female build the nest. The male stands guard over the nest while the female incubates. There are between 4-7 eggs (exceptionally 12). The cygnets hatch after about 36 days and have a grey or brown plumage. The cygnets can fly at an age of 120 to 150 days.