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Common Loon
(Gavia immer)
: "Great Northern Loon", "Great Northern Diver"
German name(s): "Eistaucher"
Size: 66-91 cm; wing span 127-147 cm
Weight: 2.2-6.7 kg
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Common Loons are quite large aquatic birds.
During the
breeding
season their head and neck are black, with some white stripes
along the sides of the neck and on the throat. The entire
front, from the chest down, is white.
The back is near-black, with large rectangular white patches
on the inner wing coverts and neat rows of white spots on the
outer coverts.
In eclipse
their plumage is
plainer. While the front remains unchanged (white), throat and
chin also turn white and the rest of the head is charcoal-grey.
Only parts of the hindneck remain darker, with a white indentation
above its sides.
The back is plain dark-grey, possibly with a few white spots visible
on the wing coverts.
The irises are red; the bill is dark-grey during the
breeding
season and light-grey with a darker upper edge in
eclipse.
Legs and feet are grey.
Juvenile
Common Loons resemble
adults in eclipse,
but their plumage is a
somewhat lighter shade of grey, with a neat scaly pattern on the back.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Common
Loon at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Common Loon is available
HERE
.
Common Loons are primarily found in North America. With a few small
exceptions (southern Alaska; the far north-eastern US), they breed
in Canada, mostly up to ca. 70 degrees latitude, along the Aleutian
Islands, the southern seaboard of Greenland and around Iceland.
They overwinter mostly in coastal waters, down both the American East
and West coasts. Along the East coast, they can be found from about
New Foundland to the northern Gulf of Mexico. Along the West coast,
they can stay just off the Aleutian Islands to as far South as eastern
Mexico, beyond the Baja California.
Some also migrate across the Northern Atlantic to (mostly near-coastal)
Europe.
During their migration on the North American continent they can be found
basically anywhere in the interior, as far southward as roughly the
US/Mexico border.
In Europe, Common Loons are non-breeding migrants to the islands
in the North Sea and northern Atlantic Ocean and the western
coastline from northern Norway and the base of the Kola peninsula
to southern Portugal and the Mediterranean coast from Spain to
southern France.
They are increasingly also found along inland waters in western
Europe (including the British Isles and Ireland), southern and
central continental Europe and around the Baltic Sea.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
J. Pires reports spotting two Common
Loons in the Sado estuary, Portugal, in January 2023.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this
page has kindly been contributed by J. Pires.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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NON-BREEDING |
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Lateral view of 2 Common Loons in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Portugal, January 2023]
Near-dorsal view of a Common Loon in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Portugal, January 2023]
Near-dorsal view of 2 Common Loons in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Portugal, January 2023]
Near-dorsal view of a Common Loon in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Portugal, January 2023]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.