Loons
Order: Gaviiformes. Family: Gaviidae
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 3 New Jersey species.
- Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata
- Pacific Loon Gavia pacifica (A)
- Common Loon Gavia immer
Read more about this topic: List Of Birds Of New Jersey
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 (18171862)