Loon

The loon or diver is a type of aquatic bird found in many parts of North America and northern Europe. A loon is the size of a large duck, to which it is unrelated; its plumage is largely grey or black, and it has a spear-shaped bill.

The European name diver comes from the bird's habit of catching fish by swimming calmly along the surface and then abruptly plunging into the water; the North American name loon comes from the bird's haunting, yodeling cry, a symbol of the Canadian wilds.

Loons swim well, and fly adequately, but are almost hopeless on land, and have difficulty taking off, becoming airborne only after skimming the surface of the water for a couple of hundred meters.

There are several species of loon:

• the Common Loon or Great Northern Diver, Gavia immer, the most common and wide-spread variety;
• the Yellow-billed Loon or White-billed Diver, Gavia adamsii, which resembles the Common Loon except for its bright yellow bill;
• the Arctic Loon or Black-throated Diver, Gavia arctica;
• the Red-throated Loon or Red-throated Diver, Gavia stellata;
• and the Pacific Loon or Pacific Diver, Gavia pacifica.

Pacific Loon is often considered to be a subspecies of the Atlantic Black-throated Diver

The Common Loon is the national bird of Canada and is depicted on the Canadian one-dollar coin, the loonie.