The world's largest swan, The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) is named because of its trumpet-like, resonant, deep and loud, sonorous call. The Trumpeter Swan’s scientific name, Cygnus buccinator, is from the Latin Cygnus (swan) and buccinare (to trumpet). Humans have a buccinator muscle in our cheeks — we use it to blow out candles and to blow into trumpets and other instruments. the trumpeter swan is the largest waterfowl species native to North America - an adult Trumpeter stands about 4 feet high and a wingspan that may exceed 10 ft. The trumpeter swan is larger than the similar tundra swan, but it is difficult to separate them in the field. The trumpeter swan's call is more vociferous than that of the tundra swan and has been likened to the sound of a French horn. The tundra swan's call is high-pitched and reminiscent of snow geese. The trumpeter swan has white feathers, a black bill with a pink streak at the base of the upper mandible. It requires open water, feeds mainly on aquatic plants, and nests in wetlands. By 1933, fewer than 70 wild trumpeters were known to exist, and extinction seemed imminent. In the early 1950s, a large population of these birds were found in Alaska and today their population is estimated at close to 16,000.