Is this an arctic loon? (1 Viewer)

[Gordo79]

Saw this bird yesterday on Lake of the Woods in NWOntario.

It’s not a common loon - might it be an arctic loon?

Thank you.

 

[D Halas]

It is a Common Loon, either a juvenile or a first-summer bird.

 

[KC Foggin]

I'm going with Artic Loon.

 

[Microtus]

Welcome to the Forum, Gordo79! It's definitely a Common Loon.

Common Loon Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The eerie calls of Common Loons echo across clear lakes of the northern wilderness. Summer adults are regally patterned in black and white. In winter, they are plain gray above and white below, and you’ll find them close to shore on most seacoasts and a good many inland reservoirs and lakes...

www.allaboutbirds.org

 

[Butty]

It's definitely a Common Loon

... e.g. partial band round lower neck.

 

[Gordo79]

Thanks every one - can someone explain, however,why it looks so different from all of the other common loons on the lake. I see dozens and dozens every day and none look like this one.

Thank you.

 

[Butty]

You'll need to give the way(s) in which you feel it differs.

 

[Gordo79]

You'll need to give the way(s) in which you feel it differs.

Thanks Butty - all of the other loons on the lake have black heads and the typical black/white pebbled feathers. If this is a juvenile, does that suggest that few survived last year? This is the only loon that has the gray arctic loon- like plumage.

 

[Butty]

all of the other loons on the lake have black heads

Those are in adult breeding plumage. The fact that your bird is a juvenile or (more likely at this time of year?) a one-year-old doesn't suggest anything in particular.

 

[D Halas]

Thanks Butty - all of the other loons on the lake have black heads and the typical black/white pebbled feathers. If this is a juvenile, does that suggest that few survived last year? This is the only loon that has the gray arctic loon- like plumage.

Loons have a fairly long lifespan (15 to 30 years) and the mortality rate is fairly low once they've reached full size. Since loons show adult plumage from their second year onwards, there will necessarily be a lot more loons in adult plumage than in first-year plumage on any sufficiently large lake.

 

[CARERY]

All was about plumage so far... but also structurally, this massive bill excludes Arctic Loon