Red-throated Loon

Overview

Red-throated Loon: Small loon with scaled gray back and white underparts. Head and sides of neck are gray, throat is dark red, nape is black-and-white striped. Eyes are red. Feeds on fish, dives to 90 feet for them. Direct flight, rapid wing beats. Only loon to leap into flight from water or land.

Range and Habitat

Red-throated Loon: Breeds in Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and Canadian Arctic south to British Columbia, northern Manitoba, and Newfoundland. Spends winters south along Pacific coast to southern California and along the Gulf Coast and Florida; also found in northern Eurasia. Preferred nesting habitats are tundra lakes and arctic coasts.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Red-throated Loon, also known as the Red-throated Diver, is the smallest and most widely distributed member of the loon family. As recently as the 1800s, they were thought to be a foreteller of storms; birds flying inland or giving short cries predicted good weather, while those flying out to sea or giving long, wailing cries predicted rain. Unlike other loons, it does not carry its young on its back. A group of loons has many collective nouns, including an "asylum", "cry", "loomery", "raft", and "water dance" of loons.