Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii), Davis Dam, Lake Mohave, Mohave County

This Yellow-billed Loon was found by Lauren Harter and photographed by Bob Steele and David Vander Pluym on 17 January 2016

There are seven previously accepted records for Arizona, five of those in the Lower Colorado River Valley with an eighth pending from nearby Katherine Landing.

On this bird, the size, shape and color of the bill are diagnostic for Yellow-billed Loon (in the second photo, the bird is swimming with a Pacific Loon [left].). Note especially the lack of a dark line on the culmen. On Common Loon in this plumage there is almost always a dark line across the culmen extending almost to the tip of the bill. This bird also has the characteristic pale head and neck of a Yellow-billed and when in relaxed swimming posture holds the bill at an uptilted angle. In some poses there is a sharp peak in the crown, a feature that is probably more prominent in males. The pale edges of the back feathers are characteristic of first winter plumage.

The pale brown post-auricular spot, typical for first-winter Yellow-billed Loons, is much more prominent on this bird than on the bird nearby at Katherine Landing. This individual also has more extensive dark on the culmen.

17 January 2016, photo by Bob Steele

 

17 January 2016, photo by David Vander Pluym

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