Day 65: Common Loon

On our last trip to the Ocean City inlet, we got some good photos of a Common Loon, another type of loon that can be seen off the Maryland coast (I've already told you about the Red-throated Loon).

The Common Loon breeds in northern North America and parts of Greenland and Iceland. They winter all along North America’s Pacific and Atlantic coasts as well as in Europe and Iceland. Breeding adult Common Loons have a black head, white underparts, and a checkered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding birds (which is what we saw) are brownish with a white chin. The bill is held horizontally and is one way to distinguish the Common Loon from the Red-throated Loon (which holds its bill at more of an angle).

Particularly during the breeding season, the eerie call of the Common Loon is recognized as a symbol of the wild North. The territorial yodel of the male loon can be heard from lakes across Canada to the very northern United States. Here's a link to some loon calls.