What is "whooper swan"

n. A species of swan, ''Cygnus cygnus'', of the taxonomic family Anatidae.

n. common Old World swan noted for its whooping call [syn: whooper, Cygnus cygnus]

The whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), pronounced hooper swan, is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the Cygnus genus. 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".