Scientific name:
Gaviiformes

Natural spread:
Northern Europe, North-Asia, North America

co only 4-5 close to relatives types in a type, Gavia, forms the loons a very small order of the birds. It is extremely strong at the water-life of tried on animals, who almost spend its entire life, with exception of the brood-period, on the sea, where they dive for fishings and (to the more inferior part) after cancers, squids and ringlet-worms from the water-surface from. In the sweet-waters of its brood-areas, loons carry off also water-insects and amphibians in addition.

Shape As distinct seabirds, loons of powerfully developed nose-glands (salt-removal), that lie in accordingly deep indentations of the bone-skull, the Ãœberaugenrinnen, have.

Loons have very many similarities and agreements with the rag-divers (Podicipediformes), why one both order earlier than "coccyx-feet" or also "hell-diver" summarized. Today, they hold zoologist this extensive homogeneity for the consequence of a konvergenten (of each other independent) development of different bird-groups in adaptation at a homogeneous habitat. Also with the loons, the legs position at the torso far behind; however is the three fore toes through swimming-skins together interconnected, web-divers: in contrast to the toe-rags of the rag-divers. Also, the plumage of the loons is not as soft as this of the rag-divers; the tail carries 16-20 tax-feathers, that are admittedly trained shortly, but completely with strong shaft and flag. All loons shift between splendor regularly, or brood-dress and simply, or silence-dress. Both sexes resemble from; the males usually become somewhat bigger. The 11 Handschwingen are molted simultaneously so that loons are unairworthy temporarily.

Locomotion The flight is fast and straight. Loons move far and fly at all much more than rag-divers. They require quite long attempt-tracks to starting on the water; when landing, they first dive with the breast and not with the feet one. Also the submersible-ness is better than with the rag-divers developed: Diving-walks of 10 minutes of duration and up to 70 m of depth were proved already with loons. On the country, loons are just as clumsy as rag-divers.

Brood The nest stands directly at the water, is not positioned swimming like with rag-divers but with a solid substructure, however. The brooding loon always holds its head executed to the water so that it can immediately away-dive in the lake with a jump. In its brood-biology, the individual types resemble themselves largely (splendor-divers). The nest usually consists of 2 brown eggs, that don't carry any limy coating. The boys of the loons train 2 dark, unmarked Dunenkleider.

Characteristics At the field-observation, one can loons on the basis of its bigger body, the thicker neck and, in the flight, through the absence of a wing-mirror of rag-divers distinguishes. The beak of adult loons is mightier than this from rag-divers; Squabs have however relatively weak and often atypically molded beaks. In the size, full-grown loons vary quite strongly.

Types The biggest type is with 84-99 cm of total-length and 4-6,3 kg of weight of the yellow-beak-ice-divers (Gavia adamsii) from North-Eurasia and the northwest-like North America. its mighty one, until tossed up beak (top exactly, sub-beak upward bent) long to 7,6 cm with the coloring light-yellow with alto-birds distinguishes it from the smaller (68-81 cm long and 3,6-4,5 kg heavy) ice-diver (G). always, whose brood-area lies in the northern North America as well as on Greenland, Iceland and the bear-island. Yellow-beak-ice-divers and ice-divers have a black head and neck-plumage with an alongside-striped white collar in the brood-dress; the back-plumage carries a showy, black-and-white "chessboard-pattern."

The smaller splendor-diver (G). arctica, differs through the gray head-drawing and the black-and-white vertical stripes of the neck-region of the ice-diver in the brood-dress. The white-neck-diver (G). it is told by the look of pacifica, Nordostsibiriens and North America by many zoologist as subtype of the splendor-diver. it is somewhat smaller and differs in lighter plumage of the rear head-part.

The smallest type of the loons is with 53-58 cm of length and 1,03-2,46 kg of weight of the star-divers (G). stellata, whose brood-area stretches over the north of Eurasia and North America. Also on Greenland, pointed-mountains and wide arctic islands, star-divers brood. In the brood-dress, they leave themselves on the basis of the red-dreads coloring at heads and necks, through the absence of a clear "chessboard-pattern" on the upper side as well as the slim, piled up beak distinguishes from other loons. The gray upper side with characteristic white stains is covered ("star-divers") in the silence-dress.