Yellow-billed loon
Gavia adamsii (G. R. Gray, 1859)
The yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii), also called the White-billed diver, is a medium-sized bird of the family Gaviidae in the order Gaviiformes. It is a migratory, aquatic carnivore of wetland habitats that feeds as an aquatic predator.
Quick facts about the yellow-billed loon
Adults weigh 4.9 kg, with reported values from 4.9 to 5.2 kg, and the wingspan is 1.4 m, with reported values from 1.37 to 1.52 m. It lays 2 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 27.5 days, and it is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 4.9 kg – 5.21 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.37 m – 1.52 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 18 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 30 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 27.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3 years – 3.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the yellow-billed loon?
Photos of the yellow-billed loon
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the yellow-billed loon live?
Not recorded
What is the yellow-billed loon?
The yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii), also known as the white-billed diver, is the largest member of the loon or diver family. Breeding adults have a black head, white underparts and a chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. Its main distinguishing feature is the long straw-yellow bill, which, because the culmen is straight, appears slightly uptilted.
It breeds in the Arctic and winters mainly at sea along the coasts of the northern Pacific Ocean and northwestern Norway; it also sometimes overwinters on large inland lakes. It occasionally strays well south of its normal wintering range and has been recorded as a vagrant in more than 22 countries. This species, like all divers, is a specialist fish-eater, catching its prey underwater. Its call is an eerie wailing, lower-pitched than the common loon.
From the Wikipedia article “Yellow-billed loon” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow-billed_loon&oldid=1379434177), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the yellow-billed loon endangered?
The yellow-billed loon is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the yellow-billed loon classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGaviiformes
- familyGaviidae
- genusGavia
- SpeciesGavia adamsii (G. R. Gray, 1859)
Synonyms Colymbus adamsii, Gavia adamsii adamsii, Urinator adamsii
Other names and names in other languages (84)
- White-billed diverEnglish
- White-billed diverEnglish
- White-billed Diver/Yellow-billed loonEnglish
- Yellow billed diverEnglish
- Yellow-billed diverEnglish
- Yellow-billed diverEnglish
- Yellow-billed diverEnglish
- غواص أصفر المنقارArabic
- Беладзюбы гагачBelarusian
- Гагара беладзюбаяBelarusian
- Гагач беладзюбыBelarusian
- Жълтоклюн гмуркачBulgarian
- Splujer beg gwennBreton
- Calàbria de bec blancCatalan
- calàbria de bec pàl·lidCatalan
- Ош нерӓн тыктыMari
- potáplice žlutozobáCzech
- Trochydd pigwenWelsh
- trochydd pigwynWelsh
- Trochyddion PigwynWelsh
- hvidnæbbet lomDanish
- GelbschnabeltaucherGerman
- Gelbschnabel-EistaucherGerman
- GelbschnabeleistaucherGerman
- Gelbschnäbliger EistaucherGerman
- TarabusEmilian
- palbeka gavioEsperanto
- Blankbeka kolimboEsperanto
- Colimbo de AdamsSpanish
- Colimbo Pico AmarilloSpanish
- tundrakaurEstonian
- Aliota mokozuriBasque
- بوتيمارPersian
- jääkuikkaFinnish
- Nevgul havgásFaroese
- nevgulur lómurFaroese
- Plongeon à bec blancFrench
- GielsnaffeldûkerWestern Frisian
- Lóma gob-bhánIrish
- Lóma gobghealIrish
- Learga bhlàrScottish Gaelic
- Mobella biquibrancaGalician
- Lhargey ghob-baneManx
- צוללןHebrew
- צוללן לבן־מקורHebrew
- צוללן לבן-מקורHebrew
- žutokljuni plijenorCroatian
- fehércsőrű búvárHungarian
- TuhllikInuktitut
- TuulikInupiaq
- SvalbrúsiIcelandic
- Strolaga beccogialloItalian
- ハシジロアビJapanese
- 흰부리아비Korean
- baltasnapis narasLithuanian
- geltonsnapis narasLithuanian
- dzeltenknābja gārgaleLatvian
- Цагаан хошуут ахуунаMongolian
- geelsnavelduikerDutch
- gulnebblomNorwegian Nynorsk
- nur białodziobyPolish
- mobelha-de-bico-amareloPortuguese
- Sfunsella da glatsch dal bec mellenRomansh
- Белоносая гагараRussian
- белоклювая гагараRussian
- Белоклювая полярная гагараRussian
- или белоносая гагараRussian
- Үрүҥ тумустаах куоҕасYakut
- VilgesnjunáhpedovttaNorthern Sami
- fiskesnjunáhpedovttaNorthern Sami
- VilgesnjunáhpedoavttaNorthern Sami
- potáplica bielozobáSlovak
- rumenokljuni slapnikSlovenian
- Morski gnjurac žutokljuniSerbian
- Žutokljuni morski gnjuracSerbian
- vitnäbbad islomSwedish
- sarı gagalı dalgıçTurkish
- Ак думчуктуг онгукTuvinian
- Гагара полярнаUkrainian
- Білодзьоба гагараUkrainian
- Гагара білодзьобаUkrainian
- 白嘴潛鳥Chinese
- 白嘴潜鸟Chinese
- 黄嘴潜鸟Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the yellow-billed loon
Other species in the same genus Gavia.
Black-throated loon
Gavia arctica
Red-throated loon
Gavia stellata
Common loon
Gavia immer
Pacific loon
Gavia pacifica
CompareYellow-billed loon vs Black-throated loonYellow-billed loon vs Red-throated loonYellow-billed loon vs Common loonYellow-billed loon vs Pacific loon
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the yellow-billed loon?
The yellow-billed loon is a bird of the family Gaviidae in the order Gaviiformes. It is a migratory, aquatic species.
How heavy is the yellow-billed loon?
Adults weigh 4.9 kg, with reported values from 4.9 to 5.2 kg. Its wingspan is 1.4 m.
What does the yellow-billed loon eat?
The yellow-billed loon is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
Is the yellow-billed loon endangered?
No. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does the yellow-billed loon live?
Its lifespan is 18 years, with values up to 30 years reported.
How many eggs does the yellow-billed loon lay?
It lays 2 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 27.5 days.
Who named the yellow-billed loon?
Its scientific name, Gavia adamsii, is credited to (G. R. Gray, 1859).
At what age does the yellow-billed loon mature?
It reaches sexual maturity at 3.5 years.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-billed-loon
“Yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-billed-loon.
@misc{yellow_billed_loon_2026,
title = {Yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-billed-loon},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}