OTHER NAME- "Imber Diver,"
Other divers are the Pacific and Great Northern Divers
The upper parts of The Black Throated Diver's oval shaped body are glossy black, tinted slightly green near the tail and shaded with brown. The lower part of the neck and upper chest have, dusky, white stripes and its belly is white. The Black Throated Diver has a long thick neck about six to seven inches long. The color of the neck is a combination of plum and black with some white spots and when in flight you see a dusky coloring on the under sides of its small wings. Near the tips of the wing feathers you will see white round spots. Black Throated Divers has a speedy, powerful flight and when in the air flaps its wings constantly and stretches its neck forward and feet straight back. They are expert divers and can evade pursuers when wounded.
In the summer the bird's head shows the colors of gray and black and the lower parts of the head are white. The top section of its head and the back of its neck are light gray and the Black Throated Diver's black, straight, pointed, thick beak is as long as its head. Its average sized eyes shows its iris the color of deep bright red.
An adult bird stands about 30 inches tall and from the tip of its beak to the end of their feet. The bird in flight is about 33 inches long. While flying its wing span extend to about forty inches. Their feathers are short and compact and their tail of eighteen feathers is very short and rounded. The quills of the bird are dark brown tinted with some gray coloring. Their very short, wide feet are colored smoky blue with black claws. Both the male and female though she is smaller have the same coloring. Because its feet are so far back on its body the diver finds it very difficult to walk on land.
People on shore hear its mournful call in the spring and on early summer evenings. It is a sight to behold, seeing a Black Throated Diver swimming across water while the sun mist melts the morning mist away.
Once the young grow flying feathers they abandon the site where they were born. They immediately take up the habits of a sea bird. In the beginning the young birds go with their parents on fishing expeditions, but the parents capture the fish. Then the adult drops the fish in front of the young bird training the young birds to catch food. The first feathers grown by the young birds are dark brown in color.
