ABOUT LOONS
After giving many loon multi-media presentations Ray has a "Question and Answer" time where fellow loon lovers are able to ask him some questions about loons. These are some of the most popular questions.
HOW CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MALE AND FEMALE LOON?
Ray always enjoys this question. There are three ways to tell the difference:
- If you witness copulation, the male is the one standing up and on top.
- If the loon you are watching yodels, that it is a male, because only the male loon will yodel.
- If you see the egg being laid then you're watching the female.
The bottom line is unlike songbirds for instance; the males and females are not differently marked. There may be a slight difference in size, the male being slightly larger (usually). With our pair here on Joe's Pond we have noticed some characteristic or "personality" differences. For instance our male is more "klutzy" than the female, and tends to be less of the "sticker" to the nest during incubation time. The female will stay on the nest much longer and lower her head as if to hide from a "passer-by" whereas the male may quickly slink off the nest and swim way out of the cove as to distract any intruder. When the male returns to the nest he, many times, comes close to knocking the egg out of the cavity before he settles down on the egg.
HOW LONG DOES THE LOON LIVE?
The loon's average life expectancy is between 15 to 30 years.
WHY DOES THE LOON HAVE A RED EYE?
The loon has its red eye only during the spring and summer months as part of its mating plumage. There are observations that the red eye will disappear visually in deeper water (15 feet or more) turning gray as it is viewed by other underwater creatures, possibly helping with its fishing abilities. There is also a theory that the red eye actually improves the loon's ability to see underwater.
During the loon's molting stage in the winter months, the red eye fades to brown; also, it is during this time that the stunning black and white plumage of spring and summer, turns to a more modeled brown and gray.
HOW FAR CAN THE LOON SWIM UNDERWATER?
The answer to that question is not easily documented. The easy answer is "a long ways"... But there are a couple of factors that one needs to realize when watching a loon dive in one area and then "surface" far away on the lake. When a loon dives to avoid being detected in an area of the lake, he can "periscope up" coming up only as far as he needs to letting only his head break the surface of the water for an instant, then quickly dive again to what might appear to be an impossible distance away. This type of observation would make us conclude also that the loon can hold its breath for an extremely long time. Due to the ability to extract air from its feathers a loon can control the amount of body mass that he keeps below the water's surface, being nearly impossible to detect on a large body of water if he chooses to take a breath and continue to swim underwater. The loon will hold its breath at an average for about one minute at a time while fishing in shallow waters.
The other factor, that is amazing to see, is how quickly loons can swim underwater and how precise their turning ability is while they chase schools of fish. Loons do not use their wings for swimming... only their extremely large feet coupled with their aerodynamic body which maneuvers like a well-designed guided missile underwater.
HOW DEEP DO THE LOONS DIVE?
That is another difficult fact to document, but it is suspected that they can dive as deep as 200 feet. But more accurately you can say they dive to depths of up to 100 feet, still a very long ways down!
OF COURSE ONE VERY COMMON QUESTION IS: DO LOONS MATE FOR LIFE?
It would appear that they do. Certainly if something should happen to prevent the pair from being together at breeding time, either of them would most likely take up with another willing adult. Statistics have shown that 80% of the time they stay with the same mate for life.
The fact is that during the winter months the couple will not migrate together nor spend the winter months together, but due to the extremely strong bond between them they seem to rondez vous at the same nest site year after year. We have been observing the same pair now for several seasons, and have watched their arrival at the nesting site during ice out. The male is the first to arrive (usually) and the female may arrive as much as one week later. We have concluded that the male comes first as over the years the first loon is always larger, and during copulation he proves to be the one "standing". The male repeats his habits every year upon his arrival. He will go directly to the nesting platform as soon as he lands on the pond, and scare off all the ducks and geese that have made it their resting spot. Then when the female arrives the courtship begins almost immediately. Copulation usually happens on the platform after a couple of days or possibly a week.
There was one summer that our female (who was parent to 1 young chick) entangled herself in fishing twine. She had beached herself to die. After her rescue by the Vermont Loon Biologist Eric Hanson and Ray Richer (wildlife photographer) she was set free on the pond where she was carefully observed. She separated herself from the rest of the family, (or was rejected by the family) for the rest of the summer. The next spring when the male arrived at ice out he continued his normal routine, then about 2 weeks later a female arrived. She was not familiar with the nesting platform so it seemed because they had copulation on several mud flats in the marsh, until she was lead to the platform by the male. Our conclusion was that she was very unfamiliar with the nesting site and therefore a different female from the years past. (Her size was slightly smaller than the previous female, and the number of eggs produced that year reduced. They did have one chick (laying only one egg) that year and the next year, but did not mate the next two years. They successfully hatched a 2 egg brood for the following four years (only one season did both chicks develop and survive.)
HOW WELL CAN A LOON FLY CONSIDERING ITS LARGE SIZE AND WEIGHT?
A loon is very well adapted to flight apparently, even though it has solid bones unlike other birds. The loon has been clocked at speeds over 100 mph during migration. It takes approximately 250 flaps per minute to achieve that speed.
HOW LARGE IS THEIR TERRITORY DURING NESTING SEASON?
A loon pair will defend a large amount of territory during that time of the year. It is said that an average of 150 acres is needed for a successful nesting area. But it will all depend on the number of loons in the area, how tolerant the loon pair is of intruding loons, and how much natural habitat is available to the loons for nurturing their young. One other important factor would be the availability of food for the family.
WHAT IS THE IDEAL NESTING SIGHT FOR A LOON PAIR?
Loons prefer a protected shoreline (like a northwest shoreline) out of the prevailing winds, and some shallow waters with adequate vegetation but with a quick drop off to the depth of about 6 feet for a quick get-away if needed to lure others away from the nest site. The vegetation makes for a perfect "nursery" for the newly hatched chicks, as their first meals will consist of small delicate vegetation. (Very often they will choose a small island shoreline for their natural site, unless a nesting platform that is carefully situated better suits their needs.)
WHAT ABOUT THE "RELATIONSHIP" OF A LOON TO LAND?
Loons are physically constructed for propulsion on, and below water and to be aerodynamic in flight, but not especially graceful on land. BUT, they only need to be on land for mating and incubating eggs. (Occasionally, they may be in an emergency situation like fleeing from an aggressive territorial loon that is chasing it onto land from the water, or they may even beach themselves to die) Their hips are not like that of most birds. The legs come straight out of the hip socket toward the tail end of the bird. Most bird's hips "send" the legs out forward toward their center of gravity (under the belly area) allowing them to balance their body weight while standing.
Loons can push themselves along on land for short distances, but due to the delicate underbelly of a loon that is not a desirable "mode of transportation". Therefore their nesting sites are usually very close to shore, which makes them also susceptible to flooding during high water months (which of course is springtime, and their nesting time.) One reason for their decline in population in some areas is the use of man-controlled dams for energy generation. One solution to that problem is the use of a floating nesting platform that cannot be flooded out by fluctuating water levels.
WHAT DO LOONS EAT?
Some fishermen don't take kindly to loons "fishing" in the waters near them... that is an understandable concern... but loons are just as happy with "rough fish" as they would be with game fish, they will take whatever fish is handy. Loons will eat suckers, perch, minnows, bullheads, even crayfish and leeches but not seek out that "prize trout"... Loons will adapt to whatever the food supply. Keep in mind that they eat very different diets in the winter on the open ocean showing their varied appetite and ability to diversify. The other interesting factor is that they will often choose a pond or lake for its adequate food supply for raising their chicks. When the chicks are young it is not uncommon to observe one of the adults leaving the pond to feed on a different nearby pond, possibly preserving the food supply for their chicks.
WHERE DO LOONS GO IN THE WINTER?
They go to the nearest open water... usually the ocean, but some large lakes that do not freeze are also waters of choice.
During the winter the loons do their molting of their primary feathers and cannot fly. They ride the tides in the ocean and fish the shallow waters "trapping" the schools of fish in the shallows and filling their bellies. But life is not all about eating; they have to adjust not only to their stress of molting but to the change of diet, the rough conditions of winter coastal storms, marine pollution and of course parasites. All this is stressful for the loon.
WHO ARE THE NATURAL PREDITORS FOR LOON EGGS?
Number one enemy of a nesting loon is the nighttime scavenger the raccoon. If the nest is located on a shoreline of a lake also occupied by humans the raccoon population tends to be high due to the "easy" food supply of "canned food"... (Garbage cans that is)... the raccoon has no problem ambushing a nesting loon during the night and feasting on the abandon eggs if the nest is on shore. But a raccoon does not feel so confident raiding a floating platform... the loon is better at swimming than the raccoon and the piercing bill is a lethal weapon. We witnessed a fight between a beaver and loon one year, and soon there after found a body of a beaver with a hole in its skull (with no "exit wound").
Another common threat to the loon egg is from ravens and crows. Loss of loon eggs to birds, such as these, is much more common than loss of eggs to mammals.
HOW LONG WILL A LOON EGG TOLERATE BEING "EXPOSED" TO SUNLIGHT OR COOL AIR?
If left uncovered a loon egg will maintain its temperature for a longer period of time than the egg of a small bird. Loons have been known to leave their eggs unprotected for six to eight hours and still produce a live and healthy chick at hatching. We have witnessed even longer periods of time that the adult was off the nest, still resulting in a healthy chick at hatching time.