Most often, they will be feeding in fields and can be observed from roadside viewpoints. Some sites such as Portmore Lough RSPB Reserve, County Antrim are used as nighttime roosts and large numbers of swans can be watched flying in to roost at dusk.

Are whooper swans rare?

The whooper swan is a very rare breeding bird in the UK, but has much larger populations that spend winter here after a long journey from Iceland. It has more yellow on its yellow-and-black bill than the Bewick's Swan.

Why are whooper swans called that?

It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genus Cygnus. Francis Willughby and John Ray's Ornithology of 1676 referred to this swan as "the Elk, Hooper, or wild Swan". The scientific name is from cygnus, the Latin for "swan".