Common loon a symbol of the wilderness

By: 
Lisa Jansen
Special to NEW Media

Of all the joys I experience while spending time in the Wisconsin Northwoods, hearing the haunting cry of the common loon is one of my favorites. Whether a lone wail welcoming the first morning light or an evening chorus echoing through the star-filled sky, the call of the loon is unmistakable and ever-so hypnotic.

All About Birds describes four distinct loon calls. The “Tremolo” is a wavering call given when a loon is alarmed or to announce its presence. The “Yodel” is the male loon’s territorial claim. Each male has his own signature yodel. The “Wail” is the haunting call that loons give back and forth to figure out each other’s location, much like a game of “Marco Polo.” Lastly, “Hoots” are soft, short calls given to each other and can symbolize curiosity and/or happiness.

Our symbol of the wilderness, the common loon makes Wisconsin’s northern lakes its summer home. Every spring they arrive from their long flight off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Males migrate here first followed by the females days to weeks later, often returning to the same lake.

Loons do not mate for life but some stay together a long time. One famous pair named ABJ and Fe have been together for 25 years. According to Audubon Magazine, Seney National Wildlife Refuge started a Common Loon banding program in 1987. They have been following ABJ and Fe’s quarter-century-old affair and are able to confirm that ABJ, Fe, and multiple generations of their family reunite at Seney every summer.

Once fall arrives, loon families separate. The female migrates south first followed by the male, leaving the juveniles on their own. A few weeks later, the juveniles somehow know to flock together to make their first migration journey. Isn’t is fascinating how nature instinctively knows what to do? I get a little melancholy when it is time for them to leave, because the juveniles remain south for three years before returning back north.

Have you ever seen a loon dive and then worry because it is not coming back up? According to the Adirondack Council, the common loon’s legs are situated far back on their bodies. This helps propel them rapidly and move great distances while swimming underwater. Most birds have air-filled bones but loons have dense bones allowing them to dive up to 200 feet deep and to stay underwater for up to five minutes.

The loon’s leg position makes it difficult for them to maneuver on land. They only go ashore to mate and incubate eggs. Because of their heavy bodies, loons need a long “runway,” at least 30 yards, to run across the top of the water to get enough speed to lift off. Once airborne, they are strong flyers. They have been tracked at 70 miles per hour and are able to go hundreds of miles without stopping. The U.S. Geological Survey found that a loon traveled 670 miles within a 24-hour period.

Common loons eat invertebrates like crayfish and aquatic insects like dragonflies. The environmental organization called Nature Canada shares that loons have no teeth and have to swallow their food whole or in big chunks. Small prey is swallowed underwater but larger ones are brought to the surface and eaten there. They also eat small rocks to help them break down the food in their stomach.

While scooping up small rocks to aid in digestion, loons can also ingest small lead fishing tackle such as sinkers and jig heads. According to Northland College LoonWatch, a single lead sinker will kill a loon. Twenty percent of loons necropsied (autopsied) died in Wisconsin because of lead-poisoning.

Along with not using small lead tackle, other ways to help loons include: keeping a respectful distance of at least 200 feet, respect slow/no-wake zones and rules, don’t fish next to a loon, leave native vegetation and woody debris on the shore and in the water, use four-stroke motors or no motors at all, and consider getting involved in loon conservation by contacting the Wisconsin LoonWatch at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College in Ashland.

If you want to see the common loon in action, The Loon Preservation Committee has a web site, https://loon.org/looncam, where you can watch a live camera set up on a loon nest along with videos and highly entertaining written accounts of the nest activities.

National Geographic claims the loon got its name because of how clumsily they walk on land, perhaps because of the Old English word luume for awkward, or the Scandinavian word lum meaning clumsy. Whatever the reason, I, for one, will call them a sign of wonder as I yearn to hear their enchanting call welcoming me to the wilderness once again.


Lisa Jansen is a conservationist, nature writer, and award-winning photographer. She specializes in raising awareness of birds and butterflies of the Midwest.