Black-throated Loon

How to recognise it

• Slightly larger than a Mallard but much more slender
• Summer: ash-grey head and neck, purple-glossed black throat, black back with white spot patches
• Winter: pale grey crown and nape, dark upperparts, white throat and underparts
• Dagger-shaped bill usually held horizontal when swimming, male and female look alike

Call and song

The territorial call sounds like ku-u-í-ki, kuí-ki, kuí-ki. In the breeding season the male sings a high, rhythmic, whistling song. The alarm call is a deep creaking, and in flight it gives a barking “kwow”.

Where and when

The Black-throated Loon breeds throughout Sweden except on Öland, Gotland and in Skåne. It is reported most in April and from July to September, and rarely reported in February. Its share of all bird reports is highest in Dalarna, Kronoberg and Jämtland. It is the provincial bird of Gästrikland.

Food and behaviour

It eats fish and sometimes insects, molluscs, crustaceans and plant material. It dives from the surface for food, never deeper than 5 metres. Loons sit fairly low in the water, and it takes off by running along the surface as if on a runway. In flight the feet stick out far, so the wings look placed mid-body. It lives in pairs, usually for life.