The "Other" Loons: Yellow-billed Loon

Though we primarily work with Common Loons here in New Hampshire, there are actually 4 other loon species that exist in the world today! In January and February, we talked about Red-throated loons, Arctic Loons, and Pacific Loons. This month we are wrapping up this series with some facts about the final species, the Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii).

The Yellow-billed Loon is the species most similar in both size and plumage to the Common Loon. While the two species are comparable in weight, the Yellow-billed loon tends to be slightly larger than the Common Loon in terms of body length. Like the Common Loon, the Yellow-billed Loon has black and white breeding plumage, with large white spots across its back, a black and white striped ‘necklace’ located mid-neck, and a smaller black and white striped ‘chinstrap.’ One easy way to tell Yellow-billed loons and Common Loons apart by sight is by looking at the bill—as its name implies, the Yellow-billed loon has a yellow-to-ivory colored bill in breeding plumage, while the Common Loon's bill is black. In addition to the color difference, the bills of Yellow-billed Loons also tend to be a bit longer, on average, than those of Common Loons.

--shared courtesy Loon Preservation Committee