Although only a monochrome bird, the Black-throated Diver in summer has exquisitely patterned black, white and grey plumage.
Breeding Black-throated Divers are found in north-west Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, inhabiting large lochs preferably with small islets for nesting. In winter Black-throated Divers are present in small numbers around much of Britain and Ireland's coastal waters.
Divers have their legs and feet set well back and find movement on land very cumbersome, so their nests are always close to water.
Select a topic for more facts and statistics about the Black-throated Diver
Divers in winter can be confusing and difficult to identify. Let this video help you to confidently separate Red-throated, Black-throated and Great Northern Divers.
Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Black-throated Diver, provided by xeno-canto contributors.
Call
Song
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The Black-throated Diver has a small breeding population in Scotland, estimated at 215 pairs in 2006. This represents a slight increase of 16% since the previous survey in 1994, with increases occurring throughout the Scottish range (Eaton et al. 2007). A 10% range expansion has also occurred between 1988–91 and 2008–11 (Balmer et al. 2013). An assessment of environmental variables suggests there are many lakes within the range of the species that are suitable but vacant but there is insufficient historical data to assess the medium to long-term population trend (Jackson 2005) and it is therefore unclear whether the population has always been small.
Black-throated Divers are present round much of the coast of Britain in winter, though are virtually absent from Shetland and are scarce around northeast Scotland and Wales. The breeding distribution of Black-throated Divers is confined mainly to north and west Scotland and the Outer Hebrides.
Britain and Ireland Breeding Distribution 2008-2011. More from the Atlas Mapstore.
Britain and Ireland Winter Distribution 2008-2011. More from the Atlas Mapstore.
Black-throated Diver's British breeding range has expanded 10% since the 1988–91 Breeding Atlas. Gains are concentrated in the eastern and southern parts of the range, though many of these new records refer to single birds or pairs on suitable lochs, rather than confirmed breeding events.
Britain and Ireland Breeding Distribution Change 1968–72 to 2008–11. More from the Atlas Mapstore.
Britain and Ireland Winter Distribution Change 1981–84 to 2007–11 More from the Atlas Mapstore.
Change in occupied 10-km squares in the UK
% change in range in breeding season (1968–72 to 2008–11)
Black-throated Divers are recorded year-round, though scarce, being reported on only around 1% of complete lists.
Weekly occurrence patterns (shaded cells) and reporting rates (vertical bars) based on BirdTrack data. Reporting rates give the likelihood of encountering the species each week.
Movement
Information about movement and migration based on online bird portals (e.g. BirdTrack), Ringing schemes and tracking studies.
Lifecycle and body size information about Black-throated Diver, including statistics on nesting, eggs and lifespan based on BTO ringing and nest recording data.
Analysis by Mudge & Talbot (1993) found that breeding productivity was very low and they tentatively suggested that it was too low to maintain a stable population at the time; most failures were attributed to flooding and predation. The provision of rafts to provide safe breeding sites improved breeding productivity by an estimated 44% (Hancock 2000) and hence may have contributed towards the observed recent population increases.
Links to more studies from ConservationEvidence.com
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