Gavia pacifica
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The Pacific loon or Pacific diver (Gavia pacifica) is a medium-sized member of the loon, or diver, family. The Pacific loon, previously considered conspecific with the similar black-throated loon, was classified as a separate species in 1985. The genus name Gavia comes from the Latin for "sea mew", as used by ancient Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder. The specific epithet pacifica is Latin for the Pacific Ocean, the term meaning "peaceful".
The phylogeny of this species is debated, with the black-throated loon and the Pacific loon traditionally being considered sister species, whereas a study using mitochondrial and nuclear intron DNA supported placing the black-throated loon sister to a clade consisting of the Pacific loon and the two sister species that are the common loon and the yellow-billed loon. In the former phylogeny, the split between the Pacific loon and the black-throated loon is proposed to have happened about 6.5 million years ago.
Breeding adults are like a smaller sleeker version of common loon. They measure 58–74 cm (23–29 in) in length, 110–128 cm (43–50 in) in wingspan and weigh 1–2.5 kg (2.2–5.5 lb). They have a grey... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenai Fjords National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Guangzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 9 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Loon sighting in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, based on 43 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 44th most-seen of the 93 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Loon in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February–April and August–September, the lowest months. October to January have too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pacific Loon sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Pacific Loon sightings, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park ranks 4th at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Kenai Fjords National Park (United States, about 20%), Great Bear Rainforest (Canada, about 20%) and Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (Canada, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pacific Loon is recorded against all the birds logged in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (43 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
