WhenToBird

Gavia adamsii · Gaviidae

When Do Yellow-billed Loons Arrive in Alaska?

Adult Yellow-billed Loon
Photo: Thomas Galewski, CC BY 4.0 via iNaturalist

Yellow-billed Loons are winter birds in Alaska: they arrive in mid May, peak in the second week of October (1.6% of checklists), and most are gone by mid February.

When to look

First arrivalsMay 15-21mid May
Common byMay 15-21mid May
PeakOct 8-14the second week of October
Most gone byFeb 15-21mid February

Best: the second week of October. First arrivals mid May; most are gone by mid February. Peak: on about 1.6% of Alaska checklists.

  1. Januncommon
  2. Febuncommon
  3. Maruncommon
  4. Aprrare
  5. Maycommon
  6. Juncommon
  7. Julcommon
  8. Auguncommon
  9. Sepcommon
  10. Octpeak season
  11. Novcommon
  12. Deccommon

Darker months: more checklists report it. Outlined: peak month.

0%1%2%3%Jan 1-7: 0.5% of 3788 checklistsJan 8-14: 0.5% of 2852 checklistsJan 15-21: 0.5% of 2810 checklistsJan 22-31: 0.4% of 3629 checklistsFeb 1-7: 0.5% of 2519 checklistsFeb 8-14: 0.5% of 2927 checklistsFeb 15-21: 0.3% of 3743 checklistsFeb 22-28: 0.4% of 2846 checklistsMar 1-7: 0.2% of 2904 checklistsMar 8-14: 0.2% of 3073 checklistsMar 15-21: 0.1% of 3359 checklistsMar 22-31: 0.2% of 5855 checklistsApr 1-7: 0.3% of 4329 checklistsApr 8-14: 0.1% of 4949 checklistsApr 15-21: 0.1% of 7114 checklistsApr 22-30: 0.2% of 10916 checklistsMay 1-7: 0.1% of 11827 checklistsMay 8-14: 0.3% of 14115 checklistsMay 15-21: 0.2% of 12152 checklistsMay 22-31: 0.6% of 19919 checklistsJun 1-7: 1.3% of 15816 checklistsJun 8-14: 1.0% of 17194 checklistsJun 15-21: 0.9% of 15943 checklistsJun 22-30: 0.9% of 16192 checklistsJul 1-7: 0.7% of 9815 checklistsJul 8-14: 0.7% of 8263 checklistsJul 15-21: 0.8% of 7081 checklistsJul 22-31: 0.7% of 9434 checklistsAug 1-7: 0.5% of 6380 checklistsAug 8-14: 0.4% of 6258 checklistsAug 15-21: 0.5% of 6114 checklistsAug 22-31: 0.4% of 8189 checklistsSep 1-7: 0.6% of 5848 checklistsSep 8-14: 0.5% of 4853 checklistsSep 15-21: 0.5% of 4415 checklistsSep 22-30: 0.6% of 5086 checklistsOct 1-7: 1.1% of 3576 checklistsOct 8-14: 2.8% of 4212 checklistsOct 15-21: 0.5% of 3339 checklistsOct 22-31: 1.0% of 4169 checklistsNov 1-7: 0.9% of 2844 checklistsNov 8-14: 0.7% of 2753 checklistsNov 15-21: 0.7% of 2291 checklistsNov 22-30: 0.4% of 3066 checklistsDec 1-7: 1.1% of 2199 checklistsDec 8-14: 0.7% of 2472 checklistsDec 15-21: 0.6% of 3071 checklistsDec 22-31: 0.4% of 3442 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Frequency is the share of complete checklists in Alaska that listed the bird, 2016–2025. It is not a head count, and it follows where and when people go birding. How to read it.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

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Where in Alaska

Best counties

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. North Slope BoroughBest early October · 113 checklists that week, 10,891 in all24%
  2. Aleutians East BoroughBest mid December · 13 checklists that week, 1,634 in all18%
  3. Aleutians West Census AreaBest mid October · 27 checklists that week, 6,087 in all12%
  4. Nome Census AreaBest early October · 71 checklists that week, 13,472 in all12%
  5. Yakutat City and BoroughBest mid July · 25 checklists that week, 545 in all5.8%
  6. Hoonah-Angoon Census AreaBest the second week of November · 52 checklists that week, 8,159 in all5.5%

Best spots

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. Kittilngook BayNome Census Area, best early October · 26 checklists that week, 838 in all45%
  2. North Salt LagoonNorth Slope Borough, best early October · 44 checklists that week, 500 in all38%
  3. Toolik LakeNorth Slope Borough, best mid June · 23 checklists that week, 192 in all38%
  4. Toolik Lake (east)North Slope Borough, best early June · 22 checklists that week, 103 in all37%
  5. Northwest CapeNome Census Area, best late May · 60 checklists that week, 272 in all36%

Busy spots report more of everything; compare the checklist counts before you drive anywhere.

Best time of day

In Alaska, the Yellow-billed Loon is most often listed on checklists started between 6 and 8 am (0.9% of those checklists).

0%0.5%1%1.5%12 am: too few checklists (549) to judge1 am: too few checklists (365) to judge2 am: too few checklists (291) to judge3 am: too few checklists (624) to judge4 am: too few checklists (1241) to judge5 am: too few checklists (3532) to judge6 am: 1.3% of 9751 checklists7 am: 0.6% of 17236 checklists8 am: 0.7% of 24936 checklists9 am: 0.7% of 30139 checklists10 am: 0.6% of 30866 checklists11 am: 0.5% of 28207 checklists12 pm: 0.5% of 25650 checklists1 pm: 0.5% of 24144 checklists2 pm: 0.4% of 23323 checklists3 pm: 0.5% of 20763 checklists4 pm: 0.3% of 18245 checklists5 pm: 0.4% of 14895 checklists6 pm: 0.5% of 11707 checklists7 pm: 0.5% of 9365 checklists8 pm: 0.9% of 6934 checklists9 pm: too few checklists (4176) to judge10 pm: too few checklists (2050) to judge11 pm: too few checklists (952) to judge12a3a6a9a12p3p6p9p
Share of checklists started in each local hour that reported it. It reflects when people go birding as well as when birds are active. Grey hours have too few checklists (under 2% of the state’s, or under 200) to judge.
Week-by-week table
MonthDays 1-78-1415-2122-end
January0.5%0.5%0.5%0.4%
February0.5%0.5%0.3%0.4%
March0.2%0.2%0.1%0.2%
April0.3%0.1%0.1%0.2%
May0.1%0.3%0.2%0.6%
June1.3%1.0%0.9%0.9%
July0.7%0.7%0.8%0.7%
August0.5%0.4%0.5%0.4%
September0.6%0.5%0.5%0.6%
October1.1%2.8%0.5%1.0%
November0.9%0.7%0.7%0.4%
December1.1%0.7%0.6%0.4%

Common questions

When do Yellow-billed Loons arrive in Alaska?
Yellow-billed Loons are winter birds in Alaska: they arrive in mid May, peak in the second week of October (1.6% of checklists), and most are gone by mid February.
When do Yellow-billed Loons leave Alaska?
Most Yellow-billed Loons have left Alaska by mid February, when reports fall below half their usual rate.
When is the best time to see a Yellow-billed Loon in Alaska?
The Yellow-billed Loon is reported most often in the second week of October, on about 1.6% of Alaska checklists.
Where in Alaska are Yellow-billed Loons seen most often?
By county, North Slope Borough, Aleutians East Borough, and Aleutians West Census Area have the highest peak reporting rates for the Yellow-billed Loon (counties with at least 200 checklists).