Pacific Loon
From Natural History of Southeast Alaska
| Locale | Sp | Su | F | W | Br |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SE Alaska (edit) | C | U | FC | FC | - |
| Yakutat (edit) | C | U | C | C | - |
| Skagway (edit) | Ir | Ir | Ir | Ir | - |
| Haines (edit) | U | R | U | U | - |
| Glacier Bay (edit) | C | FC | C | FC | - |
| Juneau (edit) | C | R | FC | C | - |
| Sitka (edit) | C | VR | FC | C | - |
| Stikine (edit) | |||||
| S Outer Islands (edit) | |||||
| Ketchikan (edit) | FC | U | FC | C | - |
| Offshore (edit) |
Local Notes
- Glacier Bay/Pacific Loon: Flocks of Pacific Loons can be found in any season. (edit)
- Haines/Pacific Loon: (edit)
- Juneau/Pacific Loon: (edit)
- Ketchikan/Pacific Loon: (edit)
- Sitka/Pacific Loon: Fairly common winter resident. Not typically seen along the road system in summer. Best viewing locations in town are Eliason Harbor, The Channel, Whale Park, and Starrigavan Bay. Can occur in aggregations of several hundred. Pacific Loons seem to show up in Sitka area waters before they are typically seen from the road. Throughout the winter it is not unusual to see several feeding in the channel or harbors around Sitka. It’s not clear to me why Pacific Loons (as well as Common Loons) would show up in the waters away from town before they are seen in town. Nor why they (apparently, I still need to confirm this) are seen in the area waters through the summer, but rarely, if ever, are seen from the road system. It seems unlikely that they are breeding here, so presumably any summer birds are non-breeding (hatched the previous year?) birds. As far as I can tell, they prefer near-shore environments, and I am not sure what differences would make the off-road system shoreline so much more appealing, but not in winter. (edit)
- Skagway/Pacific Loon: (edit)
- Yakutat/Pacific Loon: (edit)
References
Weblinks
- All About Birds Page for Pacific Loon
- Search Arctos Database for Pacific Loon (Southeast only)
- Search Arctos Database for Pacific Loon (entire database)
- Encyclopedia of Life search for Gavia pacifica
- iNaturalist Observations for Gavia pacifica in Southeast Alaska
Other References
