Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii)

Abundance: Occasional (1 record in 1 Tennessee county, involving a single individual).

Status: Visitor during winter (1 record) but might also occur during late fall and early spring; photograph.

Information on Records: 

18-19 February 1995 (1--basic) Lillydale, Dale Hollow Lake, Clay County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Stephen R. Satterfield photo, Larry McFarland photo; Stedman 1995a; Stedman 1999a), photo (19 February 1995, Larry McFarland).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: Large, deep, clear lakes and impoundments, many of the latter having been created Regionally during the 1940s-1960s, appear to be favored migration stopover sites and wintering sites.

Remarks: Basic data about this sighting, the first for the Region and Tennessee, were first published by Witt (1995b) and Stedman (1995a), and a photograph of the loon was published in the latter summary.  Knight (1996c) indicated that the record was accepted by the Tennessee Bird Records Committee and the species placed on the official list of Tennessee birds.  A detailed account of the sighting was published by Stedman (1999a).  This sighting took place about 5 km from the Kentucky state line.

    Future sightings of this occasional visitor will probably take place, like the foregoing one, mainly or exclusively on the Region's larger lakes, with Barren River Reservoir, Green River Lake, Lake Cumberland, and Center Hill Lake being the likely sites, besides Dale Hollow Lake, to search for it.

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited: