Breeding Location:
Lakes, Seashore, rocky or sandy, Rivers
Breeding Type:
Monogamous
Breeding Population:
Fairly common
Egg Color:
Olive green to dark brown with dark brown spots.
Number of Eggs:
1 - 3
Incubation Days:
26 - 31
Egg Incubator:
Both sexes
Nest Material:
Bed of stems, grasses, and twigs.
Migration:
Migratory
Overview
Common Loon: Large loon, white-spotted, black upperparts and white underparts. Head, neck are green-black with white-streaked neckbands. Bill is black and thick. Eyes are red-brown. Dives for small fish and crustaceans. Direct flight on strong deep wing beats, head, neck and feet extend beyond body.
Range and Habitat
Common Loon: Breeds from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and northern Canada south to California, Montana, and Massachusetts; also breeds in Greenland and Iceland. Spends winters along the Great Lakes, and the Gulf, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts. Preferred nesting habitat is on forested lakes and rivers; winters mainly on coastal bays and oceans.
Breeding and Nesting
Common Loon: One to three olive green to dark brown eggs, with dark brown spots, are laid in a nest made of vegetation near deep water, allowing parents to swim to and from it undetected by predators; eggs remain exposed and uncovered when parents leave the nest to forage. Incubation ranges from 26 to 31 days and is carried out by both parents.
Foraging and Feeding
Common Loon: Eats mostly fish and occasionally crustaceans such as crayfish; forages by diving from the surface and chasing down prey underwater.
Readily Eats
Vocalization
Common Loon: Call is a loud, wailing laugh, also a mournful yodeled "oo-AH-ho" with a higher middle note; also makes a loud, ringing "kee-a-ree, kee-a-ree" with a lower middle note. Often calls at night.
Similar Species
Common Loon: The rare Yellow-billed Loon has yellow bill that is beveled upwards at tip.
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