Pacific Loon
(Gavia pacifica)

Overview

Summary

© Jukka Jantunen
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Pacific Loon is a common bird in northern Canada during the summer, where it uses freshwater ponds throughout much of the arctic and subarctic. During the rest of the year, it is strictly marine and is a conspicuous migrant along the Pacific Coast. Continental results from Christmas Bird Count data for birds wintering offshore along the west coast suggest a large increase in the Canadian population since about 1970, but several biases in this survey demand cautious interpretation. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Large annual fluctuations in the number of breeding birds suggest that high-quality nesting habitat may be limited, and that winter food supply may vary significantly among years (Russell 2002). Pacific Loons are also vulnerable to offshore oil spills during migration and winter and to ingestion of pesticides from potentially contaminated fish throughout their annual cycle, but population-level impacts of these factors are unknown (Russell 2002).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Russell, R.W. 2002. Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Russell, R.W. 2002. Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)