Nature Nut: What do loons do in the winter?
Share Posted: Mar 10, 2012, 7:59 am
Probably no animal in Minnesota conjures up more emotion than our state bird, the common loon.
The calls of the loon, the yodel, tremolo, hoot and wail are heard millions of times each year by state residents and visitors. They are also used as sound backdrops in many movies, often in locations where loons would never be found.
Many of us travel north, in part just to hear these spine-tingling sounds of the loon. I came to feel once I heard the ''call of the loon,'' I knew things were still OK in the wilds. Even though we didn’t have a northwoods cabin, trips with my family or students allowed me to get my ‘loon fix’ in most years.
I recall my first experience with loons as a youth at YMCA Camp Olson when I was rowing a dingy in the Shurds, a group of small lakes where I spotted a pair of loons with two young on their backs. At that age I wasn’t smart enough to know I shouldn’t approach them. As a result I got a very close-up look, since the adults would not dive as usual and abandon their babies.
I enjoyed the view, but got a bit of a gentle scolding from former Mayo principal, Ralph Wright, who was canoeing nearby.
Where do Minnesota loons go when lakes freeze? They head out in small flocks to coastal waters where they winter in relative obscurity, usually on the East coast, or off the Florida shores.
Shedding their signature black and white plumage for duller tans and grays, they quietly pass the winter feeding on different types of fish in their new saltwater environs. Many locals there undoubtedly wonder why we think so highly of this winter resident.
Loons rely on some unique features that allow them to dive to depths of up to 200 feet in search of fish. Their bones are dense, not hollow like most birds and they have red eyes to help them see at deeper depths.
They easily bob up and down on ocean waves and have glands by their eyes to shed salt water from their bodies. They have strong feet for swimming, which don’t work too well for walking on land, but help them in their takeoff as they run on water.
Loons, like many animals, are also “canaries in the mineshaft’. As such, they tell us if the environment is OK.
Unfortunately, studies on loons have told us insidious mercury accumulates in their bodies at harmful levels.
I recall one of my favorite naturalists who could imitate loon calls better than a loon. In his “Loon Man’ program, he equated not turning off lights to killing loons, because of the mercury pollution from power plants.
It left a lasting impression on our children and made it easier to say “you’re killing a loon’ instead of “shut off the lights’. Fortunately, power plants have gotten better at reducing mercury emissions, but still with a ways to go.
Loons are a rare sighting around here on their spring and fall migrations so you may just have to treat yourself to a trip to Minnesota’s north country to get your “loon fix’ for the year.
And don’t forget to “save a loon’ and shut off the lights.
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Thank you Kitten!! I hadn't seen it before 
