Red-throated Diver

Gavia stellata Pontoppidan, 1763

Name in other languages

The Red-throated Diver is a circumpolar species that breeds north to approximately 79° N in the polar desert zone of Severnaya Zemlya (Belikov and Randla 1987). To the south, the species breeds down to mid taiga, as far as 61°50' N along the Yenisey River, where breeding was recorded on a small lake to the west of the river near Komsa in 1958. However, the species is found more frequently near the northern boundary of mid taiga; 1.2 birds/km², for example, were found in the Yeloguy River flood-plain on the lower reaches of the river. It is more common on small bodies of water in the tundra zone; in western Taimyr it averages 1-3 pairs for every 10 lakes (Krechmar 1966). The species is rare outside of the tundra zone.

Bibliography.