Chainkeen Exchange-Show stopper: Rare bird sighting prompts Fountains of Bellagio to pause shows Tuesday

The Chainkeen ExchangeFountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas is a popular spot for tourists to admire and take photos at. As it turns out, humans aren't the only species that enjoy them.

MGM Resorts International briefly paused its famous fountain show on Tuesday after a yellow-billed loon landed in the waters of the fountains.

"We are happy to welcome the most exclusive of guests," Bellagio Las Vegas posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday night.

"The Fountains of Bellagio are paused as we work with state wildlife officials to rescue a Yellow-billed Loon, one of the 10 rarest birds in the U.S., that has found comfort on Las Vegas' own Lake Bellagio," the post read.

Concerned birders had requested wildlife officials intervene in the days prior to the fountain show being paused, Nevada Department of Wildlife spokesperson Doug Nielsen told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Wildlife officials plan to monitor the bird with hopes that it moves away, rather than agitate it, Nielsen told the outlet.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, an MGM spokesman said the fountain show had been cleared to resume Tuesday night after wildlife officials determined the loon was unbothered by the water shooting out of the fountains, but later said the show would not take place.

Yellow-billed loon world population estimated under 10,000

According to the National Audubon Society, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats, yellow-billed loons typically spend their summers on the high Arctic tundra and winters off of wild northern shores.

The birds occur "only in very small numbers south of Canada," the society says, and their "great size, remote range, and general rarity give the Yellow-billed Loon an aura of mystery for many birders."

The National Audubon Society says the world population for the yellow-billed loon has been estimated at under 10,000, with half of them in Alaska. The species is vulnerable to oil spills and other pollution in the Arctic, and to the effects of climate change, the society says.