Appearance:

Large and bulky diver with yellow or whitish, heavy bill and square head profile with steep forehead. Usually holds bill uptilted, not pointed straight like Great Northern Diver. Summer: White underparts and chequered black back. Black head and neck with white horizontal band. Winter: White underparts and grey back. Neck usually much more diffusely marked than in Great Northern Diver. Heavy goose-like flight.

Sound:

Song similar to Great Northern Diver, but slower and harsher. Not very vocal.

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

CC-photo:Seabamirum, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Licence,Link.

CC-sound:Andrew Spencer, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:jerryoldenettel, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Small head, short, thick neck, quite broad wings and fairly short tail. May be confused with a range of different species due to the highly variable plumage. Underparts range from almost white to very dark. Plumage tone ranges from chocolate to rusty brown. Dark morph usually with pale breast band. Shows 5 fingers like other Buteo, as opposed to small eagles. Tail lacks the broad terminal band of Rough-legged Buzzard. Neck thicker than in Honey Buzzard. Secondary coverts form a pale band in dark morph. Light morph typically with primary coverts forming black 'comma'. Soars with raised wings, but glides on straight wings.

Sound:

Quite vocal. Most typical call a wailing, mewing "peeoooo". Quite similar to Rough-legged Buzzard, but the pitch falls more rapidly and is then sustained for the last part of the call.

Call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Piotr Szczypinski, Licence,Link.