Red-throated Loon Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A large ducklike seabird with long, sinuous neck, a thin but daggerlike bill, and long, narrow, pointed wings. The legs are set far back on the body and the feet trail behind the tail in flight.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Red-breasted Merganser, smaller than a Common Loon.

  between crow and goose

  Measurements

  • Male
  • • Length: 25.2-26.8 in (64-68 cm)
    • Weight: 44.1-86.8 oz (1250-2460 g)
    • Wingspan: 35.4-36.6 in (90-93 cm)
  • Female
  • • Length: 22.1-25.4 in (56-64.4 cm)

  © Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Breeding adults are grayish brown above, pale below, with pale gray neck, rusty throat patch, and thin black-and-white stripes on back of neck and sides of breast. Nonbreeding adults are blackish above and white below, with a sharp border along the neck and a mostly white face with a black gab. Immatures are grayish brown above, pale below.

• Behavior

  Red-throated Loons move almost constantly when foraging. They scan beneath the water’s surface by dipping the head, then diving to pursue fish. They also locate prey while flying, often in large, dispersed flocks that quickly descend when schools of fish are detected.
• Habitat

  They breed in the arctic in tundra and taiga lakes and along marine coasts. They use large lakes and bays during migration, and coastal ocean waters during winter.