Belgium (NB), Canada (P), China (mainland), Denmark (P), Finland (NB), Japan, Mexico, North Korea, Norway (NB) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (P), Russia (European) (B), South Korea, Sweden (NB), USA (B).
Vagrant to Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Czech Republic, Estonia, Faroe Islands, France (NB), Germany (NB), Greenland, Ireland, Italy, Myanmar, Netherlands Antilles, Poland, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (NB), Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
Holarctic, breeding mainly along coasts of Arctic Ocean as far northern as c. 78° N. Winters in coastal waters of north-western and north-eastern Pacific and also off north-western Norway.
 
Population
Estimated population is 16,000 - 32,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii) [XC679078]
by Seth Beaudreault (Toolik Field Station) from Vann\u00f8y ferry, Karls\u00f8y, Troms og Finnmark, Norway (call)
Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii) [XC185362]
by Stein \u00d8. Nilsen from Point Barrow, Barrow, North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States (song)
Subspecies
Considered to form superspecies with Common Loon (Gavia immer).