Species: Gavia stellata

Red-throated Loon

Species

Birds

Show on Lists

Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Puget Sound Partnership indicator species: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Science Review:

9. Marine birds

Articles:

Marine birds

April 01, 2011

More than 70 bird species regularly utilize Puget Sound during some or all stages of their life histories, but only a portion of these are actively being investigated.

Brandt's cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus). Photo by Finley and Bohlman, courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Gaviiformes

Family

Gaviidae

Genus

Gavia

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106180

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Colimbo Menor - plongeon catmarin

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Gaviiformes - Gaviidae - Gavia - This is a clearly distinct taxon at the species level.

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A bird (loon).

Migration

false - false - true - Arrives in nesting areas around Beaufort Sea usually in early June (Johnson and Herter 1989). Common migrant off U.S. west coast April-June. Returns to U.S. Atlantic coast mainly in October, off California shores by September-October (Terres 1980). Large numbers may pass through the Great Lakes region in October.

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Diet mainly fishes; also eats shrimps, snails, aquatic insects and some aquatic plants. When feeding young, often leaves nesting area to obtain fishes from larger lake or marine waters (Reimchen and Douglas 1984). Forages in shallow water.

Reproduction Comments

Nesting begins late May in south, late June or early July in far north; eggs are laid from early May to mid-July in British Columbia (Douglas and Reimchen 1988). Both sexes (mainly female) incubate 1-2 (usually 2) eggs 24-31 days. Young are tended by both parents, fly at about 8 weeks. First breeds probably at 2-3 years (Johnsgard 1987). Nest density in Alaska and Canada ranges up to 1.65 per sq km (Johnson and Herter 1989).

Ecology Comments

Somewhat gregarious when not breeding (Oberholser 1974). Gulls, jaegers, and/or arctic fox may cause significant loss of eggs and young in some areas (Johnsgard 1987). <br><br>Defends nesting territories of variable size. Sometimes an single pond is defended (e.g. 1.1 ha in Shetland Islands, Furness 1983), sometimes multiple ponds (Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, NWT, Dickson 1993), sometimes several pairs share a larger lake (e.g. 5 pairs on a 76-hectare lake on Bathurst Island, Barr et al. 2000). Home range larger than breeding territory; individuals fly up to 14-20 kilometers away from nest site to forage (summarized by Barr et al. 2000). Merrie (1978) suggested that each breeding pair requires 2.5 square kilometers of foraging waters.

Length

Weight

1551

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2008-01-04

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-20

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Breeding in North America occurs on Arctic coasts and islands from Alaska to Ellesmere Island, south along the Pacific coast through the Aleutian Islands to Queen Charlotte and Vancouver islands; inland to central Yukon, southern Mackenzie, northeastern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan, around Hudson Bay, and along the Atlantic coast to southeastern Quebec. In Eurasia, the breeding range extends from Greenland, Iceland, and Arctic islands and coasts south to the British Isles, southern Scandinavia, northern Russia, Lake Baikal, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka, and the Commander Islands (AOU 1998). During the nonbreeding season, the range in North America extends from the Aleutians south along the coast to northwestern Mexico; and from southern Newfoundland to northeastern Florida and the Gulf Coast; in Eurasia south to Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian seas, and along the western Pacific coast to China and Taiwan (AOU 1998).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106180