Common Loon

The Common Loon breeds in the Arctic regions of North America, Greenland and Iceland, with Portugal marking the southernmost point of its wintering range in the North-East Atlantic (del Hoyo et al. 1992). It is a rare but regular winter visitor. The species winters mainly in a marine environment, where it is not easily detected from land. It may approach land, particularly in adverse weather conditions, sometimes entering more sheltered waters such as estuaries, coastal lagoons or fishing harbours (Catry et al. 2010a). It is under these conditions that the species is most frequently observed, both on the Mainland and on the islands; however, there are few records for the Madeira archipelago. In the Azores, as on the Mainland, there are numerous sightings of the species, particularly during the winter months, usually involving isolated individuals (CPR; Birding Azores 2014). During the marine censuses for this atlas, the species was recorded on three occasions: in the continental waters of the EEZ, two records were made involving four birds, whilst in the Azores archipelago only a single isolated bird was recorded. All these observations occurred in coastal areas.