Red-throated Loon - Description

Description

The Red-throated Loon is the smallest and lightest of the world's loon species, ranging from 53 to 69 cm (21 to 27 in) in length with a 91–120 cm (36–47 in) wingspan, and weighing 1–2.7 kg (2.2–6.0 lb). Like all loons, it is long-bodied and short-necked, with its legs set far back on its body. The sexes are similar in appearance, although males tend to be slightly larger and heavier than females. In breeding plumage, the adult has a dark grey head and neck (with narrow black and white stripes on the back of the neck), a triangular red throat patch, white underparts and a dark grey-brown mantle. It is the only loon with an all-dark back in breeding plumage. The non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin, foreneck and much of the face white, the top of the head and back of the neck grey, and considerable white speckling on the dark mantle.

Its bill is thin, straight and sharp, and the bird often holds it at an uptilted angle. Though the colour of the bill changes from black in summer to pale grey in winter, the timing of the colour change does not necessarily correspond to that of the bird's overall plumage change. The nostrils are narrow slits located near the base of the bill, and the iris is reddish. One of the bird's North American folk names is pegging-awl loon, a reference to its sharply pointed bill, which resembles a sailmaker's awl (a tool also known as a "pegging awl" in New England).

Like the other members of its genus, the Red-throated Loon is well-adapted to its aquatic environment: its dense bones help it to submerge, its legs—in their set-back position—provide excellent propulsion and its body is long and streamlined. Even its sharply pointed bill may help its underwater streamlining. Its feet are large, its front three toes are fully webbed, and its tarsus is flattened, which reduces drag and allows the leg to move easily through the water.

When it first emerges from its egg, the young Red-throated Loon is covered with fine soft down feathers. Primarily dark brown to dark grey above, it is slightly paler on the sides of its head and neck, as well as on its throat, chest, and flanks, with a pale grey lower breast and belly. Within weeks, this first down is replaced by a second, paler set of down feathers, which are in turn replaced by developing juvenile feathers. The juvenile's plumage is similar to that of the adult, though with a few distinguishing features. It has a darker forehead and neck, with heavy speckling on the sides of the neck and the throat. Its back is browner and less speckled, and its underparts are tinged with brown. Its eyes are reddish-brown, and its beak is a pale grey. Though some young birds hold this plumage until mid-winter, many quickly become virtually indistinguishable from adults, except for their paler bills.

In flight, the Red-throated Loon has a distinctive profile; its small feet do not project far past the end of its body, its head and neck droop below the horizontal (giving the flying bird a distinctly hunchbacked shape) and its thin wings are angled back. It has a quicker, deeper wingbeat than do other loons.