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Black-throated Loon

Black-throated Loon

Gavia arctica

Identify the Black-throated Loon by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Black-throated Loon is a large, streamlined diver of clear northern lakes, breeding across northern Europe and Asia and wintering on sheltered, ice-free coasts. In breeding plumage it has a smooth grey head, a black throat and a neat chequered black-and-white back, with white flank patches often visible. It is famous for its haunting, far-carrying calls. Its numbers are thought to be declining.

Did you know?

  • Its legs sit far back on the body, making it a superb underwater swimmer but awkward on land.
  • It was long considered the same species as the Pacific Loon.

About the species

Identification

A grey head, black throat and white belly; the back shows a white chequered pattern on black, with fine white stripes on the neck sides. Outside the breeding season it is greyer and plainer with a white throat. The bill is pale and dagger-like, and the legs are set far back, making it clumsy on land. Told from Red-throated Loon by its heavier, straight bill and chequered back, and from Common Loon by its smaller size and grey head.

Family

Gaviidae

Size

Very large (swan)

Colours

black, white, grey

About the habitat

Clear, fish-rich lakes in the northern taiga and tundra; outside the breeding season sheltered, ice-free coastal bays. It prefers quiet, undisturbed shores.

Diet

Mainly fish caught underwater; also crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic insect larvae, occasionally frogs. Chicks are fed small fish and invertebrates.

Behaviour

An expert diver that often slips under the surface to avoid disturbance and resurfaces far away. It gives loud display calls in spring. Pairs may stay together for years; both build a simple nest at the water's edge, usually lay two eggs, share incubation and tend the young on the water. It needs a long run across open water to take off.

Sources

Photo: Francesco Veronesi from Italy, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-throated Diver, Oulu, Finland 02 (15195370798).jpg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-throated_loon

See also