The loons, North America, or divers, Great Britain/Ireland, are a group of aquatic
birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia.
Loons, which are the size of a large duck or a small goose, resemble these birds
in shape when swimming. Like ducks and geese, but unlike coots and grebes, the
loon's toes are connected by webbing. The loons may be confused with the
cormorants, which are not too distant relatives of divers, and like them are
heavy-set birds whose bellies, unlike those of ducks and geese, are submerged when
swimming. Loons in flight resemble plump geese with seagulls' wings that are
relatively small in proportion to their bulky bodies. The bird points its head
slightly upwards while swimming, but less so than cormorants. In flight, the head
droops more than in similar aquatic birds.
