Trumpeter swan was still capable of flight due to its bulk. The adult trumpeter swan is all white in plumage. Like mute swan cygnets, the cygnets of the trumpeter swan have light grey plumage and pinkish legs, and gain their white plumage after about a year. As with a whooper swan, this species has upright posture and generally swims with a straight neck. The trumpeter swan has a large, wedge-shaped black bill that can, in some cases, be minimally lined with salmon-pink coloration around the mouth. The bill, measuring , is up to twice the length of a Canada goose's ("Branta canadensis")
Trumpeter whiting species was first scientifically described by Quoy and Gaimard in 1824 from specimens collected from the waters of Sydney Harbour in New South Wales, Australia. A specimen from this location was also designated to be the holotype. The species was subsequently redescribed under the name of "Sillago gracilis" by Alleyne and Macleay in 1877, which is a junior synonym and has been discarded under the ICZN rules. Roland McKay, whilst working on a revision of the sillaginids, found there to be three closely related species of 'trumpeter whiting'; the western trumpeter whiting, the oriental trumpeter whiting and the trumpeter whiting