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A photo of a Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii)
Yellow-billed Loon

Yellow-billed Loon

Gavia adamsii

The yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii), also known as the white-billed diver, is the largest member of the loon or diver family. Breeding adults have a black head, white underparts and chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. The main distinguishing feature from great northern loon is the longer straw-yellow bill which, because the culmen is straight, appears slightly uptilted. It breeds in the Arctic and winters mainly at sea along the coasts of the northern Pacific Ocean and northwestern Norway; it also sometimes overwinters on large inland lakes. It occasionally strays well south of its normal wintering range, and has been recorded as a vagrant in more than 22 countries. This species, like all divers, is a specialist fish-eater, catching its prey underwater. Its call is an eerie wailing, lower pitched than the common loon.
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Yellow-billed Loons on Birda

Photos

Sightings

A map showing the sighting location
🦆
Andrea Krava
Sunday 09 Jul 2023 - 6:09pm
United States
A map showing the sighting location
🦊
Matt Merritt
Saturday 08 Apr 2023 - 9:51am
United Kingdom
A map showing the sighting location
🐿
Rachael Friese
Sunday 29 Jan 2023 - 10:33am
United States
A map showing the sighting location
Profile picture for Clifford VanNostrand
Clifford VanNostrand
Friday 30 Dec 2022 - 4:11pm
United States
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