- Lifespan
- 10–15 years in the wild
- Size & Weight
- 58–66 cm, wingspan 78–90 cm; 900–1,200 g
- Habitat
- Fast-flowing rivers, large lakes, and coastal waters, preferring clean, unpolluted freshwater with good fish stocks.
- UK Distribution
- Winter visitor and passage migrant throughout the UK; small breeding population in Scotland and northern England, with numbers increasing in recent decades.
- Diet
- Specialist fish-eater that hunts underwater, primarily consuming small fish such as trout, salmon, pike, and perch.
- Prey
- Trout, salmon, pike, perch, and other small fish species
- Predators
- White-tailed eagles, otters, foxes (of eggs and young), and occasionally pike
- Mating Season
- December to May
- Breeding
- Clutch of 8–12 eggs, incubation period 29–35 days, typically one brood per year; nests in tree cavities or amongst rocks near water.
- Behaviour
- Highly aquatic and skilled divers, hunting cooperatively by driving fish into shallower water. Males perform elaborate courtship displays with distinctive posturing and calls. They are social birds, often seen in small flocks or pairs.