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WetlandScrapeLarge · 1.5 kg
What the Red-throated Loon sounds like
ID tip
Like the other members of its genus, the red-throated loon is well adapted to its aquatic environment: its dense bones help it to submerge, its legs—in their set-back position—provide excellent propulsion, and its body is long and streamlined. Even its sharply pointed bill may help its underwater streamlining. Its feet are large, its front three toes are fully webbed, and its tarsus is flattened, which reduces drag and allows the leg to move easily through the water. Voice: The adult red-throated loon has a number of vocalisations, which are used in different circumstances. In flight, when passing conspecifics or circling its own pond, it gives a series of rapid yet rhythmic goose-like cackles—kaa-kaa-kaa or kak-kak-kak, at roughly five calls per second. Its warning call, if disturbed by humans or onshore predators, is a short croaking bark.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Red-throated Loon
One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 10 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Red-throated Loon
The map shades 52 countries with regular records, and 5 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Mongolia, North Korea, Guernsey, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg.
About the Red-throated Loon
The red-throated loon or red-throated diver is a migratory aquatic bird found in the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed member of the loon or diver family, it breeds primarily in Arctic regions, and it winters in northern coastal waters. Ranging from 55 to 67 centimetres in length, the red-throated loon is the smallest and lightest of the world's loons. In winter, it is a nondescript bird, greyish above, fading to white below. During the breeding season, it acquires the distinctive reddish throat patch, which is the basis for its common name. Fish form the bulk of its diet, though amphibians, invertebrates, and plant material are sometimes eaten as well.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Black-throated LoonGavia arcticaThe adult black-throated loon is 58 to 73 cm (23 to 29 in) in length with a 100 to 130 cm (39 to 51 in) wingspan and a weight of 1.3 to 3.4 kilograms (2.9 to 7.5 lb).
Pacific LoonGavia pacificaBreeding adults are like a smaller sleeker version of common loon.
Yellow-billed LoonGavia adamsiiWith a length of 76 to 97 cm (30 to 38 in), a wingspan of 135 to 160 cm (53 to 63 in), and a weight ranging from 4 to 6.4 kg (8.8 to 14.1 lb), the yellow-billed loon is the largest member of the loon (diver) family.
Side by side: Common Loon vs Red-throated Loon · Black-throated Loon vs Red-throated Loon · Pacific Loon vs Red-throated Loon · Red-throated Loon vs Yellow-billed Loon
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