| May 2007
The call of the loon on a dark, quiet summer night is more than just
a familiar sound. The haunting, tremulous wail of the male loon personifies
the northern wilderness and makes us feel we've escaped from the down
side of modern urban life.
In many respects, this feeling is all too true. Loons are not compatible
with human encroachment, and population surveys clearly indicate this.
Loon numbers in northern-eastern US states are in the hundreds. Wisconsin
and Minnesota have a few thousands, while the countless remote lakes of
Canada's north support a loon population believed to number in the hundreds
of thousands. Pesticides, pollution, acid rain, and motorized watercraft:
loons don't cope well with any of these intrusions. Dr. David Bird (no
kidding, he's an ornithologist!) contends that the absence of a loon pair
from a previously occupied lake may be a sign of deteriorating lake condition.
The loon is thought to be one of the oldest living birds and, perhaps
as a result, has solid bones. (Bones of other birds are hollow).This makes
loons very heavy, with the larger male weighing as much as 10 lbs. Compare
this to a common merganser or a cormorant (sometimes mistaken for loons
at a distance) which both weigh only about 3-4 lbs. Getting airborne with
all that weight necessitates a lengthy takeoff run from the water with
wings and feet flailing furiously, but once airborne the loon's powerful
wings enable flight at speeds up to 100 mph.
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With legs set far back on its body and equipped with oversized web feet,
the loon spends almost its entire life in water. About the only time spent
on land (uncomfortably and awkwardly) is during nesting. But in its element
the loon is a prodigious swimmer and diver, able to pursue fish to depths
of over 100 feet, using both feet and wings for rapid manoeuvering, and
is capable of remaining submerged for more than a minute.
The loon was prominent in aboriginal mythology across North America,
in some cases credited with creation of the earth itself. With today's
increase in environmental awareness, perhaps it may someday return to
some of our local lakes.
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