Gavia immer
The sound most people mean by "loon call" is the wail: a long cry that rises and falls across a lake at night, like a distant wolf. The tremolo is a quavering laugh, given when a loon is alarmed or flying over. Males add the yodel, a climbing call that breaks into loud, swinging phrases, and families trade a soft hoot up close.
Every sound the Common Loon makes
4 sounds to learn, 3 with a recording.
Wail
Mid pitch · Single note
A long, smooth cry that climbs, holds, and slides back down: ooo-AHH-ooo. A calm wail can be a single note; a stressed loon stretches it to three or more notes and mixes it with other calls. Mates trade wails across the water to find each other.
“ooo-AHH-ooo”
Late spring and summer on nesting lakes, especially at dusk and in night choruses.
Tremolo
Mid pitch · Trill
A fast, wavering call that sounds like nervous laughter, one note shaken rapidly up and down. Loons give it when threatened by intruding loons, predators or people who paddle too close. They also give it in flight, usually while passing over lakes where other loons live.
“ha-ha-ha-ha-ha”
Breeding season, day or night; also from loons flying between lakes.
Yodel
Mid pitch · Phrase
It opens with long, climbing notes, then breaks into a string of loud, swinging two-part phrases that rise and fall. Only males yodel, each with his own version, and a male that moves to a new territory changes his.
Late spring and summer, when a male feels threatened (a rival loon, an eagle overhead, people too close to his nest or chicks), and in night choruses with neighbors.
Hoot
Low pitch · Single note
A soft, brief, single hoo that doesn't carry far. Family members use it to keep in touch: a parent to its chick, or one mate to the other. After a disturbance it can come out higher and harsher.
Summer, from loon families close to you on the water.
What to listen for
- On a northern lake at night, a long rising-and-falling cry is the wail; a fast, shaky laugh is the tremolo.
- A laughing call from overhead usually means a loon flying between lakes.
- Long climbing notes that break into loud, repeating swings are a male's yodel, aimed at a rival or a threat.
- If a loon tremolos as you paddle closer, it is telling you to back off.
- Mid-May to mid-June is the noisiest stretch; loons wintering on the coast are mostly quiet.
Birds that sound like the Common Loon
Pacific Loon
By ear: On Alaska breeding lakes, Pacific Loons give a wailing oo-loo-lee that recalls the Common Loon's wail. They mix it with croaks and growls, some sounding like a raven.
Red-throated Loon
By ear: Red-throated Loons, mostly in Alaska in summer and on the coasts in winter, can wail too, but more often give a fast, duck-like quacking or a strange, drawn-out gayorworrk that researchers nicknamed the plesiosaur call. Neither has the smooth rise and fall of a Common Loon's wail.
When and where you'll hear it
When
Most vocal from May to July, at any hour, day or night.
- Dawn
- Daytime
- Dusk
- Night
Where
Breeds and calls on clear northern lakes from Maine and upstate New York across the upper Great Lakes to Minnesota, on scattered lakes in the northern Rockies, and widely in Alaska. In winter it moves to the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts and some large inland reservoirs, where it is mostly silent.
- Coasts and the South
- Winter loons here wear plain gray and rarely call. The famous sounds belong to northern lakes in summer.
- Wetlands
- Coasts
Practice the Common Loon in the app
Practice the “ooo-AHH-ooo” until you can name it without looking. Wings & Whistles plays it in an interactive listening lesson, mixed with the birds you’ll hear around it.
How to recognize the Common Loon by sight
Common Loons are large, powerful waterbirds with thick necks and dagger-like bills. In summer, adults have distinctive black and white checkered backs, a black head with a white necklace, and red eyes. In winter, they are gray above and white below with a partial white collar.
Similar-looking species (3)
- Pacific Loon: Smaller size with slimmer bill
- Red-throated Loon: Smaller and slimmer with upturned bill
- Double-crested Cormorant: Entirely black plumage
Common Loon sounds FAQ
Does the Common Loon call at night?
Yes. After dark, the sound you are most likely to hear is its wail ("ooo-AHH-ooo"), though it is also heard at dawn, during the day and at dusk.
When does the Common Loon call?
The Common Loon is most vocal from May to July, at any hour, day or night.