Overview
The yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii), also known as the white-billed diver, is the largest member of the loon or diver family. Breeding adults have a black head, white underparts and a chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. Its main distinguishing feature is the long straw-yellow bill, which, because the culmen is straight, appears slightly uptilted.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds Arctic northwestern Russia from Novaya Zemlya eastward to Chukotka Peninsula, through northern Alaska and northern Canada to Nunavut (east-central Canada); winters to northern Norway, Japan and Korean Peninsula, and coastal British Columbia (southwestern Canada); prone to extreme vagrancy.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Yellow-billed loon
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
