Loon

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

Common loon (Gavia immer) with striking black head and white-spotted back swims on water in summer, carrying a small chick on its back.

red-throated loon

Common loon with wings spread on rocky lake shore; film clapper overlay and text “movie star?” across the scene.

A male and female loon swimming; one carries a baby loon on its back.

common loons (Gavia immer)

common loon (Gavia immer)

Hear the songs of many different birds.

Loon: Media

bird

Videos

Common loon with wings spread on rocky lake shore; film clapper overlay and text “movie star?” across the scene.

What's So Special About Loons?

Let's ask the Loon Ranger.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A male and female loon swimming; one carries a baby loon on its back.

Listen: The Song of the Common Loon

The common loon, or Gavia immer, is found in Canada and the U.S.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Birdsong recordings from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Images

Common loon (Gavia immer) with striking black head and white-spotted back swims on water in summer, carrying a small chick on its back.

common loon (Gavia immer)

Common loon, or great northern diver (Gavia immer)

© Mircea Costina/Shutterstock.com

red-throated loon

red-throated loon

Red-throated loon (Gavia stellata).

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

common loons (Gavia immer)

common loons (Gavia immer)

Common loons, or great northern divers (Gavia immer) swimming with young.

© Jupiterimages—PHOTOS.com/Getty Images Plus

common loon (Gavia immer)

common loon (Gavia immer)

Common loon (Gavia immer) nesting.

© Jupiterimages—PHOTOS.com/Getty Images Plus

Arctic loon

Arctic loon

Arctic loon (Gavia arctica).

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Interactives

Hear the songs of many different birds.

Hear the songs of many different birds.

A collection of bird songs.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.