Cygnus buccinator

Trumpeter swans are the largest of all waterfowl, measuring 60 to 72 inches in length and weighing 19 to 28 pounds. They have a totally white body with black legs and a black bill with a narrow red border along the edge of the lower mandible. Females are identical to males, though slightly smaller. The trumpeter has the loudest voice of all swans. Its horn-like call is deep and resonant.

The trumpeter swan was listed as an endangered species from 1931 to 1971. As early as 1700 the future of these elegant birds was in jeopardy. Demand for their down for use in pillows, quilts and powder puffs, as well as their feathers for hats, threatened this species with extinction. In 1935 a survey in the United States and Canada revealed only 200 trumpeters left. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo participates in a reintroduction program for this species.