Family: GaviidaeHabitat: Found on lakes, ponds, rivers, and seacoasts and associated bays and estuaries (A.O.U. 1998).
Distribution: Breeding range extends from Alaska east across Yukon, northwestern and southern Mackenzie, central Keewatin, northern Manitoba, northern Ontario, southern Baffin Island, and Labrador to Newfoundland; and south to Nevada, western Wyoming, northern North Dakota, the Great Lakes region, northern New York, southern New England, and Nova Scotia. In winter can be found on the Pacific coast (Aleutian Islands south to Baja California), the Atlantic coast (from Newfoundland south to Florida), and on the Gulf coast south to Texas (A.O.U. 1998). In the summer, non-breeding plumaged Common Loons occasionally are found south of known breeding range.
Field Marks: This is the loon that most novice birders and non-birders are familiar with. Bill is thick, long, and pointed; in the breeding season bill it is black, but becomes grayer in winter. In the breeding season, the blackish crown and nape encircle neck in a pattern reminiscent of a barber pole; in the winter, white indentation on neck is the only remnant of this feature. Observers should study this neck pattern closely as it will aid in identification of winter-plumaged loons along the coast, where more than one species may be present simultaneously. Checkered pattern on back in breeding season is replaced with dark brown coloration in winter.
Nest Habits: Nests on the ground, usually on the shoreline of an island; nest may be a simple scrape or it may be placed on a mat of grasses, twigs, and other vegetation.
Eggs: 1-3, usually 2; 89 millimeter; olive-green to dark brown in color, with dark brown markings.
Incubation: Both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young. Incubation lasts approximately 26-31 days; young are capable of flight when they are about 75-80 days old.
