Introduction to Bird Order Gaviiformes

Copyright: Robert Bergman - USFWS

Bird Order Gaviiformes consists of only one family, Family Gaviidae. There are 5 species of Loon or Diver that make up this family; the Red-Throated Loon, the Arctic Loon, the Common Loon, the Yellow-Billed Loon and the Pacific Loon. The Pacific Loon which is similar to the Arctic Loon is considered by some ornithologists as a super-species and not a separate species. The Loon is a rather large, common diving bird that occurs in the Northern Hemisphere and most winter in the southern coastal waters off of central Mexico. Some are known to winter in lakes, reservoirs or coastal bays.

Fossilized remains of loon-like birds have been dated back to the late Cretaceous period of over 70 million years ago with birds that resemble the modern day loon occurring in the Miocene epoch some 20 million years ago...read more