Loons Go Fishing

BirdNote^®

Loons Go Fishing

Written by Todd Peterson

This is BirdNote!
[Call of the Common Loon]
For centuries, humans, in gathering food, have taken advantage of the swift flight, keen sight, and diving ability of birds. Think of cormorants helping fishermen in China.
But loons have turned the tables on us. [Call of the Common Loon]
Imagine this: you’re fishing a small lake in the interior of Canada. Trout rise to snatch midges and May flies. Suddenly a trout strikes your fly.
[Sound of water splashing]
Trying to keep a tight line on the hard-fighting fish, you reel in rapidly.
[Sound of the fishing reel]
But just then, you’re startled to see a black-and-white shape torpedo under your boat. Alerted by the sound of your reel, a loon follows the trout in hot pursuit.
[Fish splashing]
If the fish is small, the loon may take it right off the end of your line. If you succeed in bringing the trout to hand, the loon will wait for your release, in hopes of making a meal of the tired fish. To feed itself, the bird has learned to take advantage of the human.
[Call of the Common Loon]
Support for BirdNote comes from American Bird Conservancy and Bringing Back the Birds, a photo book by Owen Deutsch on the importance of protecting birdscapes. Available at amazon.com. I’m Mary McCann.
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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by S.R. Pantle.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2012 Tune In to Nature.org   June 2012/2020  Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# COLO-02-2008-06-10-    COLO-02c