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 the Christmas Bird Count for birds wintering offshore along the west coast suggest an increase in the Canadian population since about 1970, but because of limitations in the survey and the available data, the reliability of this assessment is considered to be low. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
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 vulnerable to fishing net by-catch (Hamel et al. 2009), offshore oil spills during migration and winter, and ingestion of pesticides from potentially contaminated fish throughout their annual cycle. However, population-level impacts of these factors are unknown (Russell 2002).
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:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
