What bird is this? Looks like a loon. Has a yellowish slightly upcurved beek (long and thin), and rust red...?

Question

...rest red circular color below base of beak, and a small patch of rust red above the beak. Long neck. The overall color is dark black/brown. Dives for long periods and swims far. It looks to be about 1 1/2 times as large as a Mallard. Spotted on 2/19/07 in Lynnwood, Wa. Is this a 'common loon'? I can't find any examples of a common loon with this rust-red colored cheek and the upturned beak (I'm taking an environmental science class and had to go birding today, but this one is driving me nuts...)

Answer 1

A few I can think of suggesting that live in your area are..

Clarks Grebe.. http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/BirdsA-C/ClarksGrebe3.htm

Western Grebe.. http://sdakotabirds.com/diffids/western_clarks_grebe.htm

Red-necked grebe.. http://images.google.ca/images?svnum=10&hl=en&q=red-necked+grebe

Yellow-billed loon.. http://images.google.ca/images?svnum=10&hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=yellow-billed+loon&spell=1

Pelagic Cormorant.. http://alaska.fws.gov/fisheries/fieldoffice/juneau/birds/pc.htm

Brandt's cormorant.. http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Species/brco.html

Double-crested Cormorant.. http://www.florida-tourism.net/florida-wildlife/bird-images/double-crested-cormorant/double-crested-cormorant-ddwr8.JPG



Other than that I cant think of anything else.. you might try going to this site with a list of birds in your area and do a image search for each aquatic bird to see if it was the one you saw.. http://www.ups.edu/x5665.xml

Good luck! I hope you identify your bird!



PS I doubt it is a common loon.. they do not have any red except for their eyes and their bills are black.. http://everyschool.org/u/shelly/egmeyer/web-based_lesson/common_loon_large.jpg

Answer 2

It could be, but it sounds more like a yellow-billed loon, the common loon has a black straight beak, while the yellow-billed loon has a yellow, slightly upturned beak just like you described. Other than the beak they both seem pretty similar to me. Take a look at both their pages on wikipedia and see what you think:

Common: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern_Diver

Yellow billed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-billed_Diver



As for the rust red, I'm stumped. Maybe it was dirty?



P.S. While I do know a lot about birds, I am from Australia and have never even seen a loon in real life, so make sure you double-check all this, definitely check out the wikipedia pages.

Answer 3

A long neck, upturned beak and red patches sounds like an avocet but it is nothing like a loon.

Answer 4

What about one of the Cormorants? Pelagic Cormorant, which I have seen on the coast of Washington does have some red on the face.