Editing Loon (section)

==Etymology and taxonomy==
{{Listen|filename=loons.ogg|title=Loons calling|pos=left|format=[[Ogg]]}}
The European Anglophone name "diver" comes from the bird's habit of catching fish by swimming calmly along the surface and then abruptly plunging into the water. The North American name "loon" likely comes from either the Old English word ''lumme'', meaning [[:wikt:lummox|lummox]] or awkward person, or the Scandinavian word ''lum'' meaning lame or clumsy. Either way, the name refers to the loon's poor ability to walk on land.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Birds of the World|last=Mobley|first=Jason A.|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2008|isbn=9780761477754|pages=382}}</ref>

Another possible derivation is from the [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] word ''lom'' for these birds, which comes from [[Old Norse]] '' lómr'', possibly cognate with English "lament", referring to the characteristic plaintive sound of the loon.<ref>{{OEtymD|loon|accessdate=2015-09-04}}</ref> 

The scientific name ''Gavia'' refers to seabirds in general.<ref>[http://www.northland.edu/sigurd-olson-environmental-institute-loon-watch-FAQs.htm LoonWatch – Loon FAQs|Northland College] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100813212243/http://www.northland.edu/sigurd-olson-environmental-institute-loon-watch-FAQs.htm|date=2010-08-13|accessdate=2013-04-05}}</ref> The [[scientific name]] ''Gavia'' was the [[Latin]] term for the [[smew]] (''Mergellus albellus''). This small sea-duck is quite unrelated to loons and just happens to be another black-and-white seabird which swims and dives for fish. It is not likely that the [[ancient Romans]] had much knowledge of loons, as these are limited to more northern [[latitude]]s and since the end of the [[last glacial period]] seem to have occurred only as rare winter migrants in the [[Mediterranean]] region.<ref>[[#Brodkorb1963|Brodkorb (1963: pp. 223–24)]]</ref><ref name="Arnott1964">{{cite journal|author=Arnott, W.G.|year=1964|title= Notes on ''Gavia'' and ''Mergvs'' in Latin Authors|journal=Classical Quarterly |series=New Series|volume=14|issue=2|pages=249–62|jstor=637729|doi=10.1017/S0009838800023806|s2cid=170648873 }}</ref>

The term ''gavia'' was transferred from the ducks to the loons only in the 18th century. Earlier [[naturalist]]s referred to the loons as ''mergus'' (the Latin term for diving seabirds of all sorts) or ''colymbus'', which became the genus name used in the first modern scientific description of a ''Gavia'' species (by [[Carl Linnaeus]]) in 1758. Unfortunately, confusion about whether Linnaeus' "[[wastebin genus]]" ''Colymbus'' referred to loons or grebes abounded. North American [[ornithologist]]s used the genus name to refer to grebes, while Europeans used it for loons, following [[Nicholas Aylward Vigors]] and [[Richard Bowdler Sharpe]].

The [[International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]] tried to settle this issue in 1956 by declaring ''Colymbus'' a suppressed name unfit for further use and establishing ''Gavia'', created by [[Johann Reinhold Forster]] in 1788, as the valid genus name for the loons. However, the situation was not completely resolved even then, and the following year the ICZN had to act again to prevent [[Louis Pierre Vieillot]]'s 1818 almost-forgotten family name Urinatoridae from overruling the much younger Gaviidae. Some eminent ornithologists such as [[Pierce Brodkorb]] tried to keep the debate alive, but the ICZN's solution has been satisfactory.<ref name="Arnott1964"/><ref name="Linnaeus1758">[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus, Carl]] (1758): 68.1. ''Colymbus arcticus. In: [[Systema naturae]] per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis'' (10th ed., vol. 1): 190 [Latin book]. Lars Salvius, Stockholm ("Holmius"). [http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=265100 Digitized version]</ref><ref name="ICZN">{{cite journal|author=[[International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]] (ICZN)|year=1957–58|title=The family-group names "Gaviidae" Coues, 1903 and "Urinatoridae" (correction of "Urinatores)" Vieillot, 1818 (Class Aves) – "Opinion" 401 and "Direction" 75|journal=Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature|volume=15A|pages=147–48|url=https://archive.org/details/bulletinofzoolog15inte}}</ref><ref>[[#Brodkorb1963|Brodkorb (1963: p. 223)]]</ref>