Wednesday, September 29, 2010

When Loons Cry

So I was doing a "site walk" with a guy that works for a research facility http://www.briloon.org/ that collects data on many different types of birds, including loons. I asked him about what all the racket was at night and mentioned that it kept you up as they seemed to circle the lake all night long.

Turns out that loons are HIGHLY territorial/aggressive and the calls we hear are basically the male loons yelling "HEY, THIS IS MY SIDE OF THE LAKE. STAND THE HELL BACK!!!" to each other. Kind of like border patrol. The stronger the call, the tougher they sound...and the more likely that the girl loons will come check them out too.

What they are looking at is when lakes have high levels of mercury (mostly from dirty rain that comes up to Maine from coal plants out west) that get into fish and then into loons. Mercury acts as a depressant somehow and that makes the male loons not yell as loud - allowing other male loons to invade their turf a little easier. the trouble is these new loons eventually succumb to the same mercury poisoning and eventually the whole "population" of loons becomes less strong.

I didn't have enough time to ask him "So what?" but I think we'll be meeting with him again at some point down the road.

--
Tim King
Scarborough, Maine

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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