Yellow-billed Loon Gavia adamsii 黃嘴潛鳥
Category I. Accidental.
IDENTIFICATION
Jan. 2008, Martin Hale.
Like Red-throated Loon the bill is often held pointed upwards, but it is much larger, and the neck is rather thick. Winter-plumaged birds are grey-brown above with a pale head and neck, pale around the eye and pale or pale-tipped bill. The large yellow or ivory bill in breeding plumage is diagnostic.
VOCALISATIONS
No calls are documented from the wintering grounds (Uher-Koch et al. 2020).
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
The sole record was recorded at sea off Sai Kung.
OCCURRENCE
The sole record occurred during a prolonged spell of cold weather off Town Island, Sai Kung during 25-26 January 2008 (Yu 2011).
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
The bird that occurred in HK made frequent dives to forage or avoid approaching vessels and was seen swallowing two fish. The closest approach it allowed was 40-50 m (Yu 2011).
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Monotypic. Breeds largely north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska, north Canada and Siberia, and winters coastally in Scandinavia, northwest Russia, Canada, Alaska, northern Japan and the northern part of the Yellow Sea (Uher-Koch et al. 2020). In China a migrant through northeast provinces and winters at sea off Shandong and northern Jiangsu (Liu and Chen 2020).
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: Near Threatened. Population estimated at 11,000 to 21,000 and decreasing due to unsustainable subsistence harvesting.
Liu, Y. and Y. H. Chen (eds) (2020). The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China (in Chinese). Hunan Science and Technology Publication House, Changsha.
Uher-Koch, B. D., M. R. North, and J. A. Schmutz (2020). Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yebloo.01
Yu, Y. T. (2011). Yellow-billed Loon Gavia adamsii in Eastern Waters near Town Island. The first Hong Kong record. Hong Kong Bird Report 2007-08: 211-213.
