Common Loon

The Common Loon is a powerful flier that you can easily identify by their radiant plumages during the breeding seasons. Their haunting calls are distinct and have been characterized as rich and eerie simultaneously. These birds have become the symbol of the wilderness in many regions of North America. Especially as their yodels and hoots echo across the pristine lakes of the continent. They are agile divers, powerful swimmers, and strong fliers, making them a formidable bird that is well suited for their wetland habitats.

About Common Loons

These birds are a favorite of many birding communities due to their solitary and mysterious demeaners. They are a long-lived species and are less suited to land, typically only coming onshore while nesting. These water birds consume large amounts of fish, their hungry family eats almost half a ton of fish over a two week span. As migration seasons approach, they take off and resemble jet planes on a runway. They require large bodies of water in order to take flight effectively. In many instances, migrating Common Loons occasionally land on wet highways or parking lots when they mistake them for rivers and lakes.

These birds are fascinating for a variety of different reasons. Today, we will talk about the various things that make these curious birds stand out from other bird species.

● Common Loon Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Common Loon Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● Common Loon Range and Migration, Nesting

GET KIDS BIRD WATCHING

Common Loon Color Pattern

Common Loons are not sexually dimorphic in their plumages, with both sexes donning similarly colored plumes. However, their plumages vary greatly depending on the season. Breeding adults have blackheads, necks, backs, wings, and sides. They are conspicuously marked on their wing coverts and outer feathers with relatively large, rectangular white markings. They have broad patch of vertical white stripes on the side of their neck and much smaller patches of stripes on their upper neck. Their breasts and bellies are white, giving them a tuxedo-like appearance during their breeding seasons.

Non-breeding adults lose these extravagant plumages for gray to gray-brown upperparts and white underparts. Their throats are grayish-white to white, while their backs are a plain grayish-black. Their wings are dark brown with white spots, a feature that is typically hidden when the wings are folded. The juveniles look similar but don broad, palm-fringed feathers on the back and outer edges of their wings.

Description and Identification

During the breeding seasons, these birds are unmistakable due to their extravagant plumages. The white markings contrast with their black markings and make them visible even from a distance. Since they are typically found in the lakes of the Northern Woods, they are visually extremely easy to locate. Their vocal calls are also uniquely characteristic of them, consisting of a range of yodels and hoots that are followed by a chorus response from other loons in the area. Once the call is heard, tracing them back to the source of the sound is an easy task even for amateur bird enthusiasts.

During the winter seasons, they lose their vivid plumes for a drab, gray plumage. However, they stay close to coastal shores and can be easily located by an observant pair of eyes. Their calls may be relatively harder to hear due to the sound of the waves often blending in with them but are still distinct to attentive ears.

Common Loon Song

Adult Common Loons are able to produce quite a number of soft calls that include the hoot, the toot, and the mew. They are also capable of producing three calls at very loud volumes in order to ensure long distant vocal communication, such as the wail, the tremolo, and the yodel. There may also be variations of these calls that depend on the social context.

Observers are more likely to hear the louder calls rather than the ones at lower amplitudes, with the yodel, in particular, being rendered as “oo-AH-ho” due to the higher middle note. Sometimes, there is also a loud ringing “kee-a-ree, kee-a-ree” with lower middle notes that are observed. Adults in the breeding seasons have also been known to exchange tremolo duets with each other.

Most chicks are capable of vocalizing a day after they hatch but are only capable of soft and low-frequency calls. The calls that they can vocalize are peep, yelp, hoot, and mew. They also give a prolonged whine when they are distressed. Chicks that are around 8 weeks are able to produce tremolo, wail, and a rudimentary version of the yodel.

Common Loon Size

Common Loons are large, long-bodied waterbirds that are around 26–36 inches long. Although their size can vary depending on geographical location and sex, they have an estimated wingspan of 41–51.6 inches. They weigh approximately 88.2–215.2 ounces. Males are larger and almost 27% heavier than females. These diving birds have rounded heads with dagger-like and pointed bills. Their short tails are typically not visible in flight, but they maintain a stretched-out appearance with long, flat bodies and long necks and bills as they fly. If compared to other bird species, they are larger and longer-bodied than Mallards but are smaller and more short-necked than Canada Geese.

Common Loon Behavior

These birds are very rarely seen on land outside of copulation, or the building and tending of nests. They spend most of their time swimming in shallow waters slowly for fish, before suddenly diving into the quarries in a way that leaves the most minute ripples. All their feeding is done during the day when their sight aids them in catching the maximum prey. In some cases, they can be seen sticking one foot out of the water before waggling it. This behavior is not fully understood but is presumably done to cool them off as they engage in this activity on sunny days more often. They are also known to showcase territorial displays of lifting their bodies upright and flapping their wings aggressively as they let out a tremolo call.

Their tremolo calls are frequently heard when they fly from lake to lake, or in circles above a lake. Their necks can be seen sticking straight out with their feet trailing behind them as they let out these calls. They let out the most vocalization during the nights, with the lakes of multiple North Woods echoing with the wails, yodels, and tremolos. Territories are often established by males through their yodels. Altercations between adults over territories can get physical, with birds often severely injuring or killing their opponents.

These birds are also monogamous, with pair bonds generally lasting around 5 years despite both members of the pair arriving at breeding grounds separately. If a mate does not return on one of the years, then the other member typically takes on a new mate. Courtship involves swimming around in circles and undertaking synchronized dives before mating.

Common Loon Diet

These waterbirds are almost exclusively piscivores, meaning that their diet mostly relies on small fish, especially perch and sunfish in the northern lakes. They may also consume fish around 10 inches long, including species like minnows, suckers, gizzard shad, rock cod, killifish, and many others. In the event of scarce schools of fish in their surroundings, they will catch crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic insects, leeches, and even frogs. They typically consume their prey whole as they catch them. Sometimes, they also consume plant-material like algae and pondweed when there is insufficient aquatic prey. In their wintering locations, they eat smaller fish like Atlantic croakers.

Common Loon Habitat

Common Loons breed in the lakes of the coniferous forests in the North Woods, generally requiring pristine and crystal-clear lakes in order to see prey underwater. They also prefer lakes with coves and islands as they provide sufficient cover from predators while resting and nesting. Lakes with large surface areas are required for their flapping-and-running method of taking flight. Birds that find themselves in small lakes and ponds are often stranded there due to the insufficient amounts of space available for them to take flight.

During the winters, they move towards ocean coasts and can occur fairly close to the shore as well as in bays and estuaries. Very rarely can one find them more than a couple of miles offshore. Some populations can also be found wintering inland on larger reservoirs and slow-moving rivers. Flocks that migrate across the inlands of North America usually find large lakes and rivers to move between on their way.

Range and Migration

Common Loons breed throughout Alaska and Canada, along with the coastal edges of Greenland. They are medium distant migrants with the loons from the northern lakes migrating towards coastal ocean waters. Loons breeding in western Canada and Alaska migrate to the Pacific Coast, ranging anywhere from Alaska’s the Aleutian Islands to Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. On the other hand, loons from eastern Canada typically migrate towards the Atlantic coast. Birds that breed in the Great Lakes region migrate to the Gulf of Mexico or to the coasts of Florida.

Common Loon Lifecycle

Courtship generally involves the pair chasing each other, dipping their bills in water, and performing synchronous dives before mating. After mating, females lay their only brood of the season one or two olive-colored eggs. Although females may incubate the eggs more, it is done by both members of the pair for 24 – 31 days. The chicks are capable of diving and swimming when they are 2-3 days old. They generally leave the nest within a day or two of hatching. Both parents tend to their young until migration season. After which the young gather and embark on their own journeys. These young chicks are capable of flight after about 10–11 weeks.

Nesting

Nest sites are selected by the males in a quiet, protected, and hidden spot of the lakeshore. These locations tend to preferably be in the lee of islands or in a sheltered, back bay. Since these birds cannot walk well on land, the nests are situated close to the bank of the water. The nests are often by a steep drop-off that allows the bird to approach the nest from underwater. Sometimes, they use artificial nesting platforms that human beings have offered as an alternative habitat on lakes with extensive urban development. They reuse the same nest sites in the following year rather than rebuild a new one, often renovating or modifying the old structure instead.

The construction is undertaken by both members of the pair over the course of the week. A mound is made out of dead plant materials like sedges and marsh grasses that grow along the lake’s edge. After the mound is made, one member of the pair crawls on top of the mound and shapes the interiors with its body.

Anatomy of a Common Loon

Common Loons are large, diving waterbirds with rounded heads and pointed, thin bills. They have long and flat bodies, along with short tails and long necks. Their feet stick out beyond the tail unlike ducks and look like wedges. In-flight, they stretch out due to their anatomical proportions.

Final Thoughts

Populations of Common Loons have been stable and healthy between 1966 and 2015, with a slight increase in their numbers in the United States. However, their requirement of clear and unpolluted lakes has led to a cause of concern as urbanization depletes more and more of their natural habitats. Pollution and human disturbances have negatively impacted them enough to warrant their conservation status as a Moderate Concern. Regional declines have occurred at the southern parts of their range in North America, due to a variety of causes like the burning of coal, lead fishing sinkers, commercial fishing nets, acid rains, and human activities involving motorboats. Ocean oil spills have also caused them harm.

While further conservation efforts are required to fully benefit these lovely birds, their eerie calls can still be heard in the wilderness of the North at night. For those who are lucky enough to encounter these birds, their haunting calls echoing off across lakes continue to be strongly associated with the spirit of the wild.

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for IdentifyingCommon Loons

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Common Loons are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Common Loon Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Common Loon. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders ForCommon Loons

There are many types of bird feeders. Bird feeders are a great addition to your backyard. Bird feeders will increase the chances of attracting birds drastically. Both kids and adults will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. There are a wide variety of bird feeders on the market and it is important to find the best fit for you and your backyard.

Bird HousesForCommon Loons

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.