Your help is needed today. Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute. Loons are powerful, streamlined birds with red eyes, greenish black head, long tapered beak and black and white checkerboard plumage. There are four species of loons that exist in the northern hemisphere. The Common Loon, the Arctic Loon, the Yellow-Billed Loon, and the Red throated Loon.
Loons are supreme rulers of their aquatic domain.
With legs located well back on their sleek bodies, loons are superb swimmers easily capable of catching fish for food. Unlike other marine birds, loons have dense bones which permit them to dive to depths of 200 feet and remain submerged for 5 to 10 minutes. Loons do come ashore but only to nest. With legs positioned behind their balance point, loons have great difficulty walking or even standing. It is not unusual for loons to support some of their weight on land with their chests.