loon: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Oct. 25, 2026

News •

Skidding Loons to host surging St. Louis City on Saturday • Oct. 16, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Facts

Also Known As	diver • Gavia

Photos and Videos

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 loons (Gavia immer)

common loon (Gavia immer)

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.

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Topics

Arctic loon red-throated loon white-billed diver common loon Gaviidae

A male cardinal perched in a tree (birds, redbirds).

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The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024

Animal Factoids

Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)

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pigeon. pigeon and dove. member of the order Columbiformes, family Columbidae

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Lion (panthera leo)

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turkey vulture. vulture. Close-up of a head and beak of a Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).

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Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

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Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names