L is for Loons {Blogging Through the Alphabet}

May 10, 2019

L is for Loons {Blogging Through the Alphabet}

Thank you for rejoining us on our Blogging Through the Alphabet journey of birding. This week we'll talk a little about the Common Loon.

(all photos are from allaboutbirds.org)

adult breeding Loon

Loons are fascinating birds, in my opinion. Their distinctive call is eerie and haunting as they echo across the crystal-clear lakes of the North Woods, where they spend their summers. Summer adults are patterned black and white.

non-breeding adult/immature

Loons spend winters near the coast lines, or inland lakes and reservoirs. Their winter markings are gray above and white below.

They are powerful divers, and swim swiftly underwater to catch fish, particularly perch and sunfish. Biologists estimate that loon parents and their 2 chicks can eat about a half-ton of fish over a 15-week period. If fish are scarce or water is too murky for fishing, they will catch crustaceans, snails, leeches and even aquatic insect larvae.

adult with chick

The male selects the nest site. Loons nest in quiet, protected, hidden spots of lakeshore, typically in the lee of islands or in a sheltered back bay. They lay only 1 or 2 eggs, once a year. Incubation period is 26-29 days. Chicks are covered with down, sooty black with a white belly. They are able to swim and ride on parents’ backs within hours of hatching.

Common Loons migrate from northern lakes to coastal ocean waters. Loons in western Canada and Alaska migrate to the Pacific Coast, from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands down past Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. Loons from the Great Lakes region migrate to the Gulf of Mexico or Florida coasts. Loons from eastern Canada migrate to the Atlantic Coast.