Black Throated Diver

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.

Later in the winter the young display a light blue gray beak, a brown iris of its eyes and darker colored feet. The upper part of the head and neck are small streaks of brown. The front of their neck is ivory, slightly dotted with brown, and its sides, chest, stomach, and the under sides of their wings are bright white.

During the snow covered months in Europe the Black Throated Diver moves south along the coasts of France, into the Eastern section of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. After ice out the birds return to their nesting site in spring.

BILL DIPPING- One habit of the birds seen by bird watchers is dipping their beaks into the water as soon as they land on the water. It seems they are testing the water to see if it will furnish good food. After bill dipping the birds rises up a little and flaps their wings.

For their habitat they choose clear, timberland lakes with an abundant fish population. In the United States older birds do not move far from their home grounds. The young birds leave and scatter across the United States. Some birds find their way to Texas and farther north near the Columbia River. Along our eastern seacoasts birders see the Diver from late November until early April. On the East coast the bird doesn't wander farther south than the State of Delaware. In the middle states the birders see them moving slowly in the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and their tributaries. In the northern regions of the Atlantic Ocean the Black Throated Diver chooses to inhabits the lakes of Greenland and migrates to the seacoast waters in winter.

Their diet consists of fish, marine reptiles, shell fish, and lobsters, crabs and barnacles. The Black Throated Diver catches its fish while diving, that may last up to one minute or more. One person found a Black Throated Diver that swallowed a big mussel that lodged in its throat. Even with help, the bird exhibited a bad mood. Like the loon the Black Throated Diver is unfit to be eaten by man.

It mates in the far off areas of the north country and forest regions of Eurasia, Northern Scandinavia, Finland and Arctic Norway. Labrador also welcomed the Black Throated Divers. After fledging some bird watchers see the birds over parts of northern and eastern Europe. In the higher latitudes the Black Throated Diver breeds in North America.

The Black Throated Divers construct their nests farther inland than the Loon or Red Throated Diver and some builds their nest on small islands. When swimming the bird rides low in the water like a cormorant.

During the nesting season the black-throated diver displays a smooth satiny gray head and delicate neck. Its neck and throat are colored ebony, its neck striped black and white and its back shows a checker board appearance of black and white.

After mating the female usually lays two or three eggs in a nest, built close to the seashore in the months of May or June so the clumsy land birds, can move on and off the nest as easy as possible. The outer shell of the egg is thick with a rough covering and colored brown with a tint of olive, having spots of dark umber and black. Both the male and the female sit on the eggs until they hatch in about four weeks.

The Black Throated Divers in Scandinavia move in September through October to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea areas. These birds escape the exposure to a headlong tempest or gale by seeking cover and safety by hiding on the lee side of large rocks, islands, or artificial banks. At other times when caught in a storm they will dive into the sea and surface in the smooth parts that seamen call troughs.

The Black Throated Diver is decreasing in population because of disturbances by man, plundering by other animals, over fishing, acid rains and oil pollution at sea.

INTERESTING FACTS- One of the outstanding facts about this attractive bird is the distance traveled by the young Black Throated Divers in the fall and winter months.

According to old stories, "the devil himself created the black throated diver. They said that the devil had forgotten to give the bird its feet, and in his anger he threw the legs after the bird. "