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Yellow-billed Loon

Yellow-billed Loon

Gavia adamsii

Migration Flyway

Showing primary migration corridor(s) for this species

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About the Yellow-billed Loon

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 a chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. Its main distinguishing feature is the long 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.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name
Gavia adamsii
Family
Loons
Order
Gaviiformes

Similar species

Other members of the loons family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

  • Arctic Loon Gavia arctica
  • Common Loon Gavia immer
  • Pacific Loon Gavia pacifica
  • Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata

Know when the Yellow-billed Loon turns up near you

Add it to your watchlist and draw an alert zone around the places you actually bird. Birdr checks eBird reports and tells you when one is seen inside it.

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