Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Photo: Steve Young/Vireo
Yellow-billed Loon
Gavia adamsii
| Conservation status | World population has been estimated at under 10,000, with half of these in Alaska. Vulnerable to oil spills and other pollution in the Arctic, and to the effects of climate change. |
|---|---|
| Family | Loons |
| Habitat | Tundra lakes in summer; coastal waters in winter. Breeds in high Arctic tundra region, often on large lakes but also on smaller lakes if good feeding areas are nearby; may fly up to 5 miles from nest site to feeding areas on rivers, coastal lagoons. In winter on ocean, generally on bays, inlets, among island groups; rarely on large lakes in interior. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Loons do their foraging by diving from the surface and swimming underwater. They often swim along the surface with their heads partly submerged, peering about underwater, watching for prey before they dive. They are propelled mainly by their feet, but may sometimes use their wings also when turning or in bursts of speed. Loons find their food by sight.
Eggs
2. Brown or olive, spotted with blackish-brown. Incubation period 27-29 days; both parents incubate. Young: Leave nest 1-2 days after hatching. Adults very aggressive in defense of downy young. Young are fed by both parents, sometimes ride on parents' backs. Second chick of brood often disappears a few days after hatching. Age at first flight not known, probably about 12 weeks. One brood per year.
Young
Leave nest 1-2 days after hatching. Adults very aggressive in defense of downy young. Young are fed by both parents, sometimes ride on parents' backs. Second chick of brood often disappears a few days after hatching. Age at first flight not known, probably about 12 weeks. One brood per year.
Diet
Probably mostly fish. Diet not well known. Apparently feeds mainly on small to medium-sized fish, including sculpin, tomcod, rock cod; also crustaceans and mollusks, probably some insects in summer. Young may eat some plant material.
Nesting
May mate for life. In courtship displays, pairs dip bills in water repeatedly; splash-dive and swim past each other underwater. Nest: Male may select site, both sexes probably help build nest. Site is always very near water, on island or shore, and may be partly hidden by surrounding vegetation. Nest, often re-used from year to year, is a mound of tundra vegetation with depression at center; sometimes turf is overturned to form a mud foundation.
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- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
Yodeling calls similar to those of Common Loon but louder and harsher; generally less vocal.How climate change could affect this bird's range
In the broadest and most detailed study of its kind, Audubon scientists have used hundreds of thousands of citizen-science observations and sophisticated climate models to predict how birds in the U.S. and Canada will react to climate change.
Read more: climate.audubon.org
Each map is a visual guide to where a particular bird species may find the climate conditions it needs to survive in the future. We call this the bird’s “climatic range.”
The colors indicate the season in which the bird may find suitable conditions— blue for winter, yellow for summer (breeding), and green for where they overlap (indicating their presence year-round).
The darker the shaded area, the more likely it is the bird species will find suitable climate conditions to survive there.
The outline of the approximate current range for each season remains fixed in each frame, allowing you to compare how the range will expand, contract, or shift in the future.
The first frame of the animation shows where the bird can find a suitable climate today (based on data from 2000). The next three frames predict where this bird’s suitable climate may shift in the future—one frame each for 2020, 2050, and 2080.
You can play or pause the animation with the orange button in the lower left, or select an individual frame to study by clicking on its year.
Yellow-billed Loon In the News More News
Audubon Advisory
White House Plans to Vastly Expand Drilling near America’s Beaches and Coasts
On January 4, the Department of the Interior released an offshore drilling plan that will significantly expand oil and gas leasing in coastal water
Audubon Advisory
Vital Arctic Habitat in Jeopardy
Administration Targets Arctic Refuge, and Western Arctic, for Oil Drilling
Audubon In Action
Battling Shell’s Claim to the Arctic
Audubon and a league of conservation groups are taking their fight against drilling in the Chukchi Sea to court.
