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 chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. The main distinguishing feature from great northern loon is the longer 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 great northern diver.

Taxonomy and etymology

First described by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1859 based on a specimen collected in Alaska, the yellow-billed loon is a monotypic species, with no subspecies despite its large Holarctic range. It is closely related to the great northern loon, which it strongly resembles in plumage and behaviour; some taxonomists consider the two species to be allopatric forms of the same superspecies. Both are thought to have evolved from a population of black-throated loons which colonized the Nearctic and were subsequently cut off from other populations.

Loon

The loons (North America) or divers (UK/Ireland) are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus Gavia, family Gaviidae and order Gaviiformes.

Description

The loon, the size of a large duck or small goose, resembles these birds in shape when swimming. Like ducks and geese but unlike coots (which are Rallidae) and grebes (Podicipedidae), the loon's toes are connected by webbing. The bird may be confused with cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae), which are not too distant relatives of divers and like them are heavy set birds whose bellies – unlike those of ducks and geese – are submerged when swimming. Flying loons resemble plump geese with seagulls' wings that are relatively small in proportion to the bulky body. The bird points its head slightly upwards during swimming, but less so than cormorants. In flight the head droops more than in similar aquatic birds.

1918 illustration of a variety of divers by Archibald Thorburn. Top: great northern loon, Mid-left: red-throated loon, Mid-right: yellow-billed loon, Bottom: black-throated loon

Loon (disambiguation)

Loon is a group of aquatic birds also called diver.

Loon may also refer to:

Places

Europe

Other places

Other uses

Biled

Biled is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Biled. It also included two other villages until 2004, when they were split off to form Șandra Commune.

Name

In German, it is known as Billed, in Hungarian as Billéd, and in Serbian as Билед / Biled.

Ethnic groups

In 2002, the population was composed of:

Religion

In 2002, the population was composed of:

See also

Coordinates: 45°53′N 20°58′E / 45.883°N 20.967°E / 45.883; 20.967

References

Yellow (short story collection)

Yellow is a collection of short stories written by Korean-American novelist Don Lee. It features eight stories set in the fictional California town of Rosarita Bay in which a variety of characters examine issues of what it means to be Asian in America.

This collection includes:

ISBN 978-0393025620

Critical Reception

'Yellow' has received positive reviews in both popular and academic circles. Publisher's Weekly reviewer Jeff Zaleski comments that while many stories deal with difficult subjects, "Hatred and heartbreak...are mitigated by Lee's cool yet sympathetic eye and frequently dark sense of humor". Kathleen Snodgrass of the Georgia Review finds that many of the stories are driven by a male-female dynamic in which she finds the female characters somewhat poorly-written but otherwise found the questions of identity the relationships explored well-presented.

Nicholas Tse discography

This is the discography of Cantopop artist Nicholas Tse. Tse has released over 30 CDs in his career since 1997, and some of his albums have a trend of releasing second editions, including the Me, and Release (釋放) album.

EP's

Cantonese albums

Mandarin albums

Compilations

Live albums

Other

Singles

Yellow (Coldplay song)

"Yellow" is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay. The band wrote the song and co-produced it with British record producer Ken Nelson for their debut album, Parachutes (2000). The song's lyrics are a reference to band vocalist Chris Martin's unrequited love.

The song was recorded in March 2000, and released in June that same year as the second single from Parachutes, following "Shiver", and the lead single in the United States. The single reached number four in the UK Singles Chart, giving the band its first top-five hit in the United Kingdom. Helped by heavy rotation and usage in promotions, the song thrust the band into massive popularity. "Yellow" has since been covered by various recording artists worldwide, and remains one of the band's most popular songs.

Background and inspiration