There is no subspecies of Whooper Swan.
The four kinds of white whooper swans distributed in the northern hemisphere have long been recognized by people. Due to their white feathers, beautiful body, appealing cry and loyal behavior, the white whooper swan is regarded as a symbol of purity, loyalty and nobility by both Eastern and Western cultures developing in Eurasia.
In ancient China, whooping swans were called Hu, hong, crane, Honghu, white Honghu, Yellow Hu, Yellow crane, etc. These terms are still included in many place names, such as Yanmen Pass, Hu Ling, Hu Ze, Yellow Crane Tower, etc. In contemporary times, some places are still important migration routes for whooping swans and other geese. In the Book of Songs, there is a record of "white bird white fat", and the Japanese "white bird" refers to the whooper swan. The word swan first appeared in the Tang Dynasty Li Shangyin's poem "pull the string to alarm the fire phoenix, and fan the swan." Tang Dynasty great poet Wang Wei "people have taken yellow crane to go, there is no yellow crane tower, yellow crane will never return, white cloud thousands of empty yo" famous lines, and the spring and autumn Chu great poet Qu Yuan "Yellow Hu in one fell swoop, know the Shan Chuan Qu; Try again and see what the world can do." They're all great swan songs. Jin Dynasty Ruan Ji praised it "double wing Ling long wind, must cornus thousands of miles of death", Du Fu with "head to the sky, an to ride Honghu" to express their noble feelings. Meng Haoran with "ambition to swallow great ambition" to describe the lofty ambition. The peasant rebel army leader Chen Sheng's "sigh, Yanqi an knows the ambition of Hongda zai" (" Shiji · Chen Shu Family "), is to show his heroic spirit. Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, said in his song, "Great and lofty, a thousand miles away." His feathers have been, across the seas. If we can do anything about it..." . "Chu Ci" has: Huang Hu Xi, know the mountains and rivers of the cop Qu. Try again, know the circle of heaven and earth.
Because of their solemn and graceful manners, whooping swan has been the object of numerous art works at home and abroad. The famous ballet "Swan Lake" of Tchaikovsky, Russia, is popular in the world with its beautiful melody and light and beautiful dancing. The touching love story is repeated in the world, expressing people's good wishes and yearning for lofty love, and also reflecting people's sincere praise for the whooper swan's noble sentiment of loyalty to love. In addition, Saint-Saens' "Death of the Swan" and Schubert's "Swan Song" are also well-known famous songs. Cyprus's ancient painting art treasure "Leda and the Swan" is more than 2,000 years ago, with different colors, similar size of small square stones, one piece of Mosaic Mosaic with an area of 1.5 square meters, weighing 62 kilograms, the painting of a graceful woman Leda and a fat whooping swan together. It is based on the love story of the adulterous affair between Zeus and the Spartan princess Leida. And so on all express people's love and praise for swans.
Whooper swans are migratory birds. They leave their breeding grounds in mid-to-late September and migrate to their wintering grounds from late October to early November. In late February and early March of the following year, they left the wintering ground and migrated to the breeding ground, arriving at the breeding ground in late March and early April. Migration often takes place in small groups or family groups of 6-20 individuals. The flight height is high, the queue is neat, often into a "one" shape, "people" shape and "V" shape. It usually chirps while flying, with a loud and monotonous sound, like "ho-ho-" or "hour-" horn sound. Migration is mostly carried out along lakes, rivers and other water areas, and constantly stops and forages along the way, so the migration lasts a long time.
In early October every year, when the adult and young whooper swans have all changed their feathers and have the ability to migrate long distances to the wintering ground, the whooper swans begin to fly south in small groups. The first to move away are non-breeding subadults, adults with young birds leave later, migration is carried out at night, so as not to be attacked by predators such as birds of prey, by the end of November all move away from the breeding ground. You can fly over Mount Qomolangma, the roof of the world at an altitude of more than 8,000 meters.
Whooper swans love to cluster, in addition to the breeding period often live in groups, especially in winter, often a family group activity, sometimes up to dozens to hundreds of large groups of habitat together. Timid and alert, he moves and roosts far from the shore, swimming mostly in open water, and even roosts in water far offshore at night. They forage mainly in the morning and at dusk. Feeding grounds and habitats are often near or together. Without disturbance, they usually do not change places, and their habitat is relatively fixed. Eyesight is also very good, far away can detect danger and swim. They usually spend more time on the water. Good swimmer, generally do not dive. Swim with your neck straight up and perpendicular to the surface of the water. Swim slowly and deliberately, with good posture. We rarely take off unless we have to. Because the body is large and bulky, it is not very flexible to take off, and it needs two wings to beat the water sharply and two feet to run a certain distance on the water to fly. Sometimes, while flying and swimming, the cry is monotonous and rough, like a trumpet.
Whooper swans feed mainly on the leaves, stems, seeds, and roots of aquatic plants, such as lotus roots, elaeagnus, and water plants. The mouth has a strong digging capacity, and it can even dig up food buried 0.5 meters below the mud. In winter, they sometimes go to the fields to forage for grain and seedlings. In addition to plant foods, small amounts of animal foods are also eaten, such as mollusks, aquatic insects, and other aquatic invertebrates.
Whooper swans maintain a rare "life-long mating system", pairing up for food and rest during the winter in the South. When the female swan lays eggs, the male swan guards next to it, and when it encounters the enemy, it flaps its wings to meet the enemy and bravely fights with the other party. They not only help each other during the breeding season, but also pair up in ordinary times, and if one dies, the other can indeed "keep the festival" for him and live alone for life.
Whooper swans reach sexual maturity at the age of four. The formation of pairs usually occurs in the winter of the year prior to the start of breeding or on the way to the spring migration, and the combination of pairs is relatively fixed and generally lasts for the whole life if no mate dies. Nest building usually begins shortly after arrival at the breeding site, and within 2 weeks at most. Most of the time is from late April to early May. Every April, when the water in the north has just thawed, whooper swans flock to the breeding grounds after a long journey, almost overnight. They landed in pairs on the quiet lake, some with fun, naive and lively; Some rub the neck, warmth pulse; Some with the mouth feather, leisurely; Some dive into the water and dance in a variety of positions.
Whooper swans breed in May and June. The nest is built on dry ground on the shore of large lakes, ponds and islands, or on large piles of dry reeds in shallow water near the water. The nest is extremely large, consisting mainly of dried reeds, trichothorax, and moss, and is filled with soft stems of hay, moss, feathers, and down feathers plucked from the female's chest and abdomen. The nest is a round cap, the bottom diameter is about 1 meter, the nest height is 0.6-0.8 meters. The female nests alone. Each clutch lays 4-7 eggs, usually 4-5 eggs, mostly in early to mid-May. The eggs are white or slightly yellowish-grey, average 113×73 mm in size and weigh 330 g. The brooding is done by the female alone, while the male keeps watch near the nest. When in danger, the male chirps loudly, and the female immediately covers the eggs with feathers and nest plants and flies away. The female usually leaves the nest for a short time to forage during the incubation period, which is 31 days or 35-40 days, only during the warmest of the day. Soon after hatching, the chicks can follow their parents for food. In case of danger, the parents first hide them in the grass, and then fly away on their own until the danger has passed.
Whooper swans were once important hunting objects because of their large size and white plumage. In China, where they are hunted as medicinal ingredients, traditional Chinese medicine theorized that whooper swans burn ash for their feathers to stop bleeding. So be used. Overhunting and the clearing of wetlands have decimated populations of whooper swans: the population that bred in Greenland has been wiped out by heavy hunting; The breeding population in Iceland is only 5,000-6,000 individuals; In Japan, 11,000; It was quite common in the former Soviet Union, but it has disappeared in many places; The situation in China is also very similar, according to Guan Guanxuan et al., on November 31, 1960, from 14:00 to 15:00, only 23 groups of 430 birds were seen on the north bank of Dongting Lake. It can be seen that the population of whooper swans in China was still relatively abundant at that time. But in the more than 30 years since 1980, the population has declined significantly. According to the 1990 Asian midwinter waterbird survey organized by the International Waterfowl and Wetland Research Bureau (IWRB), only 474 whooper swans were seen in China. As countries all over the world have paid attention to the protection of whooper swans, the population of whooper swans around the world has increased significantly. The global population of species is estimated to be over 180,000 (Wetlands International, 2015). The Russian population is estimated to be around 10,000-100,000 breeding pairs, with around 1,000-10,000 overwintering individuals (Brazil, 2009). The European population is estimated at 25,300-32,800 pairs, equivalent to 50,600-65,500 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). The overall trend is uncertain, as some groups are decreasing while others are increasing, stable or trending unknown (Wetlands International 2006). In Europe, species size is estimated to be increasing (BirdLife International 2015).
Listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) for 2016 ver 3.1 - Not Threatened (LC).
Listed in the Chinese Red Book of Endangered animals grade: endangered, effective date: 1996.
Listed in China's "National Key Protected Wildlife List" (February 5, 2021) Level 2.
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