Species:

Little Owl (Athene noctua)

Black-throated Loon (Gavia arctica)

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Length (cm):
21-23
58-73
Wingspan (cm):
54-58
110-130
Weight (gram):
140-220
1316-3400
Size group:
Thrush-size
Bigger than a crow
Main Texts:
Appearance:

A small, tubby and compact owl with long legs, yellow eyes and stern expression. Head without tufts or any sharp corners, proportionally smaller than in Tengmalm's Owl, and without large, white facial discs. Upperparts greyish brown to buff, with boldest white spots of any small owl in the region. Underparts whitish with heavy, brown streaking. Flight characteristic, with alternating wing flapping and closed wings. Runs, or even hops along the ground. Posture mostly erect, but hunched when in alarm.

Sound:

Song a clear drawn "klooit" resembling Scops Owl, but with different intonation and longer single notes. Tone rises slowly in pitch throughout the call and ends with marked raised pitch, often with a change in timbre to a coarse shriek. Rich repertoire of social sounds: E.g. a clear "klewew", and sharp short "kek kek kek".

Song, contact call:

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See sound file


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

Appearance:

Summer: Black throat framed in fine white stripes at the sides, and a chequered black back. Winter: More contrast between dark and white parts than in Red-Throated Diver. Marked transition between dark neck and white front, and the dark grey crown extends below the eye. In all plumages: Heavier neck and bill than Red-Throated, and bill usually held straight. Visibly protruding chest when swimming. Head shape sometimes squarish. Usually shows big white flank patch.

Sound:

Song: a strong, very resonant, full bodied, low whistling with most syllables rising in pitch: "co clooo-eee, co clooo-eee, co clooo-eee". Also a short grunting "karr".

Song:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


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

Similar species (image):
Similar species (sound):
Silhouette Group:
Owls
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Loons/grebes
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Several different images of the species
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Several different sounds of the species
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file