Bird of the Week – Common Loon
The Common Loon is easily the best known of North America’s loon species.
Common Loon, Tanana Lakes
The male’s haunting call is a signature sound of lake country. It breeds in Alaska, Canada and the northern edge of the Lower 48. It winters along the in-shore coastline of the Atlantic and Pacific. The populations seem to be stable, but there is real concern that mining activity and tar sands mining are contaminating the water bodies that Common Loons rely upon for nesting, feeding and migration. Because Common Loons are top tier predators in their habitats, they suffer from concentrations of lead and mercury.
When you approach Common Loons, they almost always dive and swim away, rather than flying. That’s because Common Loons, in calm air, need as much as 200 meters of running on top of the water to get air borne. You’d dive, too.
Camera geek stuff: f11, 1/320, ISO500.
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I don’t understand. The photo doesn’t look anything like the half-term quitter.
Good news for Loons. OPEC made a statement last week that they will keep producing oil and drive tar sands operators out of business.
Does the “common” part of the name come from its overall population numbers or its status on the Loon hierarchy scale?