Description: This is a large bird with a wingspan of 4.5 to 6 feet. It is dark above and white below, except for a dark wrist patch on the wing. The head is mostly white except for a black patch extending up the sides of the neck to the eye.

Range: Almost cosmopolitan.

Habitat: Found on rivers, lakes and coasts.

General: This bird feeds by hovering over the water until it dives in feet-first to catch fish. It builds bulky stick nests near estuaries and larger lakes.

Bovey, Robin, Campbell, Wayne, and Gates, Brian. 1989. Birds of Victoria and Vicinity. Lone Pine Publishing. Edmonton, Alberta.

Peterson, Roger Tory. 1990. Peterson Field Guides: Western Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, New York.

Udvardy, Miklos D. F. 1994. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region. Chanticlear Press, Inc. New York, New York.

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