Loons
Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae /See Loon–(called Diver(UK))
Loons are aquatic birds the size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated. Their plumage is largely grey or black, and they have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim well, and fly adequately, but, because their legs are placed towards the rear of the body, are almost hopeless on land. There are 5 species worldwide, and 5 North American species.
- (SW) Red-throated Loon, Gavia stellata, (–Winter Range–)–Gulf of California
- (SW) Pacific Loon, Gavia pacifica, (–Winter Range–)–Gulf of California
- (SW) Common Loon, Gavia immer, (occasional Wintering)
Read more about this topic: List Of Arizona-SW Birds (Yuma County, Arizona)
Famous quotes containing the word loons:
“At length, having come up fifty rods off, he uttered one of those prolonged howls, as if calling on the god of loons to aid him, and immediately there came a wind from the east and rippled the surface, and filled the whole air with misty rain, and I was impressed as if it were the prayer of the loon answered, and his god was angry with me; and so I left him disappearing far away on the tumultuous surface.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)