Red-throated Loon

Gavia stellataOrder: GAVIIFORMESFamily: Loons (Gaviidae)
Red-throated Loon Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger
  • Eye color: Red iris
  • Head Pattern: Plain
  • Crown color: White, Gray
  • Forehead color: Gray
  • Nape Color: Pale Gray
  • Throat color: Gray, Rufous or Rust
  • Cere color:
Red-throated Loon Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 61-69 cm (24-27 in)
  • Weight: 1542 g (54.4 oz)
  • Size: Size 4. Large (16 - 32 in)
  • Color: Red, White, Black, Gray
  • Underparts: White
  • Upperparts: Dark brown with small indistinct spots.
  • Back Pattern: Spotted or speckled, Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Red-throated Loon Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 107-114 cm (42-45 in)
  • Wing Shape: Tapered-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Pointed Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: White
  • Under Tail: White
  • Leg color: Black
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Family Loon (Gaviidae)_blue
Species Gavia stellata
Length24 - 27 Inches
Wingspan43.5 Inches

Red-throated Loon

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.

● Song: "kwuk-kwuk-kwuk"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-throated Loon: Eats mostly fish; forages by diving from the surface and swimming underwater to pursue prey. Sometimes feeds in small flocks during winter.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-throated Loon: One to three olive green to brown eggs with black brown spots are laid in a ground nest made of grass, twigs, and mud, lined with finer materials, and built at the water's edge. Incubation ranges from 24 to 29 days and is carried out by both parents. Young start to fly at 49 to 60 days.

● Similar species: Red-throated Loon: Arctic and Pacific loons lack red throat patch in breeding plumage and show more contrast between dark nape and white throat in winter plumage.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Red-throated Loon Body Illustration
● Range & 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.
BreedingSolitary nester, Loose colonies
PopulationCommon to fairly common on tundra
MigrationMigratory
Weight54.4 Ounces