Skip to content
The UK Bird Atlas

White-billed Diver (Gavia adamsii)Where and when to see it in the UK

Status not yet classified · reporting peaks April · Loons · BOU category A

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

White-billed Diver (Gavia adamsii)
Ryan Askren USGS, Alaska Science Center, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
White-billed Diver: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

White-billed Diver has been recorded in 96 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (3%) in records to 2026. Its strongest squares are in Scotland, England and Wales. Reporting peaks in April.

Conservation status: Near Threatened (IUCN Red List, NT)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
100% or more of visits
High
3% to 100%
Moderate
<1% to 3%
Low
under <1%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 28%<1%High
February 57%<1%Very high
March 32%<1%High
April 100%<1%Very high
May 29%<1%High
June 11%<1%Low
July 0%<1%Very high
August 11%<1%Low
September 9%<1%Low
October 55%<1%Low
November 32%<1%Moderate
December 15%<1%Low

Squares with the highest reporting rate in April

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
HP51Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU42Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU45Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU48Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU55Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU59Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
NC14Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NC90Highland, Scotland100%Very high
ND49Orkney Islands, Scotland100%Very high
NG89Highland, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.