Whooper Swan

• The whooper swan is 152 cm in length with a wingspan of 230 cm
• The whooper swan is a winter visitor from Iceland which makes the long sea-crossing in family parties from October onwards
• Large flocks can often be seen feeding in fields and their trumpeting calls heard from some distance, provide an evocative sound of winter
• Whooper swans are easily encountered in winter months around Lough Foyle, the grasslands of Loughs Neagh/Beg and Upper Lough Erne
• Some sites such as Portmore Lough Lough RSPB Reserve, County Antrim are used as nighttime roosts and large numbers of swans can be watched flying in to roost at dusk
• Look out for whooper swans in fields just to the north of the main road at Toomebridge
• A few pairs will sometimes breed in Northern Ireland
• Whooper Swans have been recorded migrating at altitudes up to 8,200m where the ambient temperature is -40C
• Whooper swans feature in Irish myth and legend, most notably in the story of the Children of Lir