Welcoming Back Common Loons

BirdNote®
Welcoming Back Common Loons
Written by Conor Gearin

This is BirdNote.

    [Common Loon wail]

The call of the Common Loon is a symbol of the far north. Hear a loon in a movie, and there’s a good chance the scene isn’t far from the Arctic Circle.

But Common Loons once nested as far south as southern New England, Ohio, Iowa, and California. Human activity and changes to the landscape in these more populated areas has made it harder for loons to persist.

There have been encouraging signs in recent years that Common Loons could make a comeback in the southern parts of their range. Biologists have reintroduced loons to carefully chosen lakes in New England. And in the Pacific Northwest, scattered breeding populations remain. They seem to like decent-sized lakes with deep coves, good water quality, and plenty of fish.

    [Common Loon calls]

You can help welcome loons back to the places they once lived by enjoying them from a respectful distance, limiting the amount of boating on lakes where they’re found, avoiding lead fishing gear, collecting garbage that loons could get tangled in, and preserving vegetation along the shoreline.

Learn more about Common Loon conservation on our website, BirdNote dot org. I’m Ariana Remmel.
    [Common Loon calls]

This show is brought to you by Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, which works to ensure wild birds thrive in abundant and diverse habitats.
 

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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
 

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Common Loon ML106540021 recorded by Glen Chapman, and Common Loon ML72731 recorded by David C. Evers.
 

BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote January 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel

ID# COLO-04-2024-01-19    COLO-04