What do yellow-billed loon eat?

How do Loons digest their food?

The loon uses its pointy bill to stab or grasp prey. They eat vertebrate prey headfirst to facilitate swallowing, and swallow all their prey whole. To help digestion, loons swallow small pebbles from the bottoms of lakes.

What do Loon fish eat?

They eat mainly fish, supplemented with amphibians, crustaceans and similar mid-sized aquatic fauna. Specifically, they have been noted to feed on crayfish, frogs, snails, salamanders and leeches. They prefer clear lakes because they can more easily see their prey through the water. The loon uses its pointy bill to stab or grasp prey.

What does the yellow-billed loon eat?

The yellow-billed loon is a specialist fish eater, yet it also takes crustaceans, molluscs and annelids, especially for its young. It dives in pursuit of prey, which is caught underwater. Probably as a way to avoid spreading parasites, it defecates ashore, in the breeding lake.

How do Loons move on land?

Unlike the majority of bird species, common loons have solid bones, which makes them less buoyant and more effective at maneuvering through water. Their legs are set far back on their bodies, which also helps them maneuver through water, but causes them to move awkwardly on land.

How does a loon digest fish?

If the loon catches a large fish, it may release and catch the fish repeatedly until the fish is subdued, and the loon can swallow it whole. To help them digest fish bones and the shells of crustaceans, loons also ingest small pea-sized stones.

What kind of bird is a yellow and White 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 chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white.

What do loons eat in the ocean?

Common loons eat a wide range of animal prey including fish, crustaceans, insect larvae, molluscs, and occasionally aquatic plant life. They swallow most of their prey underwater, where it is caught, but some larger items are first brought to the surface.

Where do Lons migrate to?

The Common Loon is the species best known to most of us, as its breeding range lies across most of Canada. All five species of loons migrate to warmer areas around the Gulf of Mexico and on the east and west coasts of North America to winter, and return to northern lakes to breed when the ice melts in spring.

What is a yellow-billed loon?

Yellow-billed loons, also known as white-billed divers, are the largest species of the loon family. These birds are native to the United States, Canada, and Russia. They primarily breed in the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, the northern Pacific Ocean, and northwestern Norway.

What kind of bird is a blackthroated Loon?

Black-throated Loon The Gavia arctica that is known by the name of black-throated diver in Eurasia and Arctic loon in North America, is an aquatic bird of the Gavia genus. Two subspecies of this bird, the Gavia arctica arctica and the G. a. viridigularis are recognized. The birds are 58 to 77 cm in length.

What kind of bird is a yellow-billed loon?

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 chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white.

What kind of Bill does a loon have?

All species of loons have a spear-shaped bill. Males are larger on average, but relative size is only apparent when the male and female are together. In winter, plumage is dark grey above, with some indistinct lighter mottling on the wings, and a white chin, throat and underside.

Are there yellow-billed loon in full breeding plumage in Alaska?

Thanks to Jeff Fair for sharing his enthusiasm and expertise about loons with me. I have never seen a Yellow-billed Loon in full breeding plumage, which isn’t surprising when you consider the range map below. Living in southcentral Alaska, and seeing other species of loons with some frequency, the Yellow-billed Loon piqued my interest.

What kind of bird is a black-throated diver?

The Gavia arctica that is known by the name of black-throated diver in Eurasia and Arctic loon in North America, is an aquatic bird of the Gavia genus. Two subspecies of this bird, the Gavia arctica arctica and the G. a. viridigularis are recognized.

What is the difference between a common loon and a yellow-billed loon?

The common loon and yellow-billed loon look very similar. In winter, they can be challenging to tell apart, except the common loon is much more widespread and more likely to be seen in southern coastal areas.

How many yellow-billed loons are there in Alaska?

There are only an estimated 3,000-4,000 Yellow-billed Loons breeding in Alaska. The majority of those are found within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA) where expanded, and controversial, oil and gas leasing is proposed. In addition, the landscape on the entire Arctic Coastal Plain is experiencing rapid climate related landscape change.

How can you tell a common loon from a bill?

Beware the bill of Common Loon can appear very pale in some lighting, but always has a dark line along the top all the way to the tip. Breeds on ponds in the tundra.

What does a common loon look like in winter?

In winter, the plumage is brownish and mottled with more white on the face and neck. Juvenile common loons have less distinct markings and may appear duller or less refined, and they lack the distinct collar.

What is a black-throated diver?

The streamlined black-throated diver is a superb swimmer and diver, but not so graceful on land! During the summer, the distinctive black patch on its throat appears, heralding the breeding season. Classified in the UK as Amber under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015).

What is a streamlined diving bird?

These streamlined diving birds sit low in the water & dive with ease. On land they are clumsy, barely able to walk with their legs so far back on their bodies. The largest of the UK’s divers, it has a bigger, heavier head and bill than its commoner relatives.

How many species of loons are in Alaska?

The sight or sound of one of these birds in Alaskan waters gives a special meaning to many, as if it were certifying the surrounding as a truly wild place. The five species of loons found in Alaska are the common, yellow-billed, red-throated, pacific and arctic

What does a loon look like in the winter?

In winter, all loons fade to dark brown on top with white undersides, but the species can be distinguished by markings and bill shape and color. Common loons spend the summer on lakes all over the state, except in very northern and western Alaska tundra where the yellow-billed nests.

How do common loons respond to a black fly?

“Common loons respond adaptively to a black fly that reduces nesting success”. The Auk. 135 (3): 788–797. doi: 10.1642/auk-17-239.1. S2CID 90934731. ^ Rothschild, Miriam; Clay, Theresa (1953).

What kind of vocalizations do Loon birds make?

Vocalization. The common loon produces a variety of vocalizations, the most common of which are the tremolo, the yodel, the wail, and the hoot. Each of these calls communicates a distinct message. The frequency at which it vocalizes has been shown to vary based on time of day, weather, and season.

What does a common loon look like in the winter?

The eerie calls of Common Loons echo across clear lakes of the northern wilderness. Summer adults are regally patterned in black and white. In winter, they are plain gray above and white below, and you’ll find them close to shore on most seacoasts and a good many inland reservoirs and lakes.

What does a black-throated diver eat?

The black-throated diver is a large waterbird; it is larger than the Great Crested Grebe, but smaller than the Cormorant. black-throated divers nest on small pools and lochs, moving to the coast in winter, where they feed on fish. It sometimes turns up on big lakes and reservoirs.