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Whooper swans have landed on stubble field

 

 

During the autumn migration some five to ten thousand individuals pass Estonia, depending on the year; in spring they are half as many again. Arrivals from the north-east or Russia make migration stops in Estonia; important stopping places are the Peipsi shores, in addition the western coastal areas.

 

Whooper swans are often confused with the rather similar species, the Bewick’s swans. Whooper swans are larger, with a longer neck and a more yellow beak. The calls of whooper swans are also stronger and more resounding.

 

They feed here for a long time, departure for the wintering areas begins in December and lasts until waters have frozen. Winterers remain here in western Saaremaa and North Estonia. The departing birds spend their winter in the fields and coastal polders of Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.

 

Whooper and Bewick’s swans. Matsalu