The whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) is named because it is very vocal with a very loud trumpeting call which sounds a bit like an old fashioned car horn. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, Often confused with a Bewick swan, it is bigger, and its black bill has a large triangular patch of yellow on it, like a wedge of cheese, which extends to the nostrils, whereas the Bewick swan’s yellow patch is more like a teardrop. Whooper swans spend the summer breeding in Iceland, Scandinavia, northern Russia and northern Asia. Many of the Icelandic whoopers travel to the UK during the colder months. Whooper swans are very faithful to the sites where they spend winter and often return to the same place over subsequent years - for example, the Ouse Washes in the UK. In spring and summer, some adults may develop rusty ‘stained’ plumage on the neck and head caused by the iron-rich water on which they live.