Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii)

Yellow-billed Loon [lateral view in basic plumage]. Photograph Credit: Larry McFarland; Dale Hollow Lake, Clay County, Tennessee; 19 February 1995.

Abundance: Occasional; 1 record in 1 Tennessee county (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the population visiting the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Visitor during winter (1 record); photograph (see above).

Information on Records: 

18–19 February 1995 (1—basic) Lillydale, Dale Hollow Lake, Clay County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman et al., Stephen R. Satterfield photo, Larry McFarland photo [19 February 1995; see above]; Stedman 1995a; Stedman 1999a).

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 for 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.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited