Swimming birds

loon, juvenileLoon

Although they all look somewhat similar, not all swimming birds even belong to the same family. Swans, geese and ducks (dabbling and diving) belong to Family Anatidae, but loons, grebes, coots, and gulls are all from other families. Yet, somewhat similar environments have produced somewhat similar birds.

   loons  wistfully sounding residents of the Lake

   grebes  small, easily missed diver with lobed toes

   swans  elegant, but only migratory visitors

   geese  beautiful, but obnoxious

   mallards, a dabbling duck  a most common dabbler

   other dabbling ducks  surface feeders

   diving ducks  fish in the depths

   coots  small, lobed-toed swimmers

   gulls  aggressive and garrulous


Fraser tartan