Yellow-billed Loon

1/1600s at f8.0 ISO:800, Canon Mark III 1Ds w/800mm x1.4 converter


The Yellow-billed Loon also known as the White-billed Diver, is the largest member of the loon or diver family. It breeds in the Arctic and winters mainly at sea along the coasts of the northern Pacific Ocean and northwestern Norway. It also sometimes over winters on large inland lakes. It occasionally strays well south of its normal wintering range, and has been recorded as a vagrant in more than 22 countries. This species, like all divers, is a specialist fish-eater, catching its prey underwater. Its call is an eerie wailing, lower pitched than a Common Loon. Though it prefers freshwater pools or lakes in the tundra, the Yellow-billed Loon will also breed along rivers, estuaries or the coast in low-lying areas of the Arctic; in general, it avoids forested areas. Breeding typically starts in early June, though it is dependent on the timing of the spring thaw. Like all members of its family, the Yellow-billed Loon builds a nest of plant material very close to the edge of the water. The female lays two eggs. The Yellow-billed Loon is a specialist fish eater, though it also takes crustaceans, mollusks and annelids. It dives in pursuit of prey, which is caught underwater.
Cambridge Bay, Canada
 
07/11/2011