Justification
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Taxonomic source(s)
AOU. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.
Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Distribution and populationThe Pacific Loon can be found in the tundra regions of Alaska (
USA) and northern
Canada, and the far east of
Russia. During winter its range expands to include the Pacific coast of Asia down to eastern
China and North America down to Baja California (
Mexico) (del Hoyo et al. 1992).
Population justificationThe global population is estimated to number c.930,000-1,600,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2006), while national population sizes have been estimated at c.50-10,000 wintering individuals in Japan and c.100-10,000 breeding pairs c.1,000-10,000 wintering individuals in Russia (Brazil 2009).
Trend justificationThis species has undergone a large and statistically significant increase over the last 40 years in North America (148% increase over 40 years, equating to a 25.5% increase per decade; data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007).
EcologyThis species breeds on fairy large, deep freshwater lakes and winters on inshore waters along sheltered coasts, as well as occasionally inland. It feeds mostly on fish, but also on aquatic insects, molluscs, crustaceans and some plant matter. Fish are caught under water by means of pursuit-diving. Breeding begins in March in the south of its range, and depends on the timing of spring in the north. Nesting is solitary on heaps of plant matter near the water's edge (del Hoyo et al. 1992).
References
del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A.; Sargatal, J. 1992. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.
Further web sources of information
Hear sounds for this species from xeno-canto, the community database of shared bird sounds from around the world.
Text account compilers
Butchart, S., Calvert, R., Ekstrom, J.
IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Gavia pacifica. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013.
This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000)
Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004)
Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.
To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife
To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.
Additional resources for this species
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