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Loons are swim and dive fowl . They have very distinctive bodies : long and low - slung with spear - like schnoz and blood - crimson eyes . In plus to their unusual body , they have an eerie , haunt call that some consider a characteristic audio of early summertime .
Common diver are the most widespread and well - known specie of loon in North America . There are four other species : red - throated loon , Pacific addle-head , Arctic loon and yellow - billed addlehead . A scruffy common addlehead is featured as a character in the animated movie " Finding Dory . "
The common loon has a black-and-white checkered back in the summer. Its plumage turns gray in the winter.
Description
loon take the air clumsily on farming ; that ’s how they got their name , agree to National Geographic . They are unable to walk easily on land because their legs are located far to the backside of their bodies , according to the Audubon Society . That position also arrive at them powerful swimmers , however .
Common loons arelarger than the other birdbrain specie , harmonize to the Animal Diversity Web ( ADW ) . adult are 28 to 35 column inch ( 70 to 90 centimeters ) long with a wingspan of 60 column inch ( 152 curium ) . Their exercising weight ranges from 3.5 to 17.6 lbs . ( 1.6 to 8 kilograms ) .
In the summertime , adults have a black - and - white checkered back . Their head are an iridescent Joseph Black and they have a big white " necklace , " harmonise to theLoon Preservation Committee . In the winter , a addle-head ’s plumage turns gray above with a white breast , belly and wing linings .
Loon chicks often ride on their mothers' backs.
Habitat
Loons are migrant . This means they live in one place and vaporize to another shoes to breed . They also stay close to large bodies of urine , no matter where they are .
The common addlehead breed in forested lake and big ponds found in Greenland , Iceland and northern North America . In the wintertime , they live along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America , Iceland and Europe , allot toNational Geographic .
Habits
vulgar loons are not societal birds . you may usually obtain them by themselves during the day . At nighttime , though , they sometimes stick by together in groups bid flocks while they log Z’s . When they transmigrate , they typically fly alone , though some like to group up during the journeying .
In one style , loon are like aeroplane : they take a runway to take off . Loons will flap their wings and turn tail about 30 yards across the surface of the water in monastic order to gain enough speed for liftoff , according to theCornell Lab of Ornithology .
In another way , loons are like submarines : they can dive below the water . rough-cut loons pass a lot of time sticking their heads below water to front for fish , and then suddenly diving after their prey . Loons have substantial bones , unlike other birds . This make them less floaty and better at diving event . They quickly throw out air from their lungs and flatten their feather to remove melodic line from within their plume so they can plunge late and swim speedily .
A loon has to flap its wings and run across the water in order to gain enough speed to take off.
Cry of the loon
According to the Loon Preservation Committee , researchers have identifiedfour distinct callsused by loons : tremolo , plaint , yodel and damn . These vocalizations are used in courtship and territorial dispute , communicating between duet and progeny , and among peck penis , and to signal consternation , harmonize to the ADW .
Diet
Common diver are carnivores , which signify they eat meat . Typically , coarse loons will make meals of Pisces the Fishes and crayfish , runt and leeches they find around their rest home . As they plunk to take in their target , most of what they catch is immediately eaten before they come up .
Offspring
Loons are monogamous , according to the Cornell Lab . dyad typically bond for about five years . When coarse addle-head get to their breeding field and mate , the female person lie in their eggs beside bodies of water or in shallow water . The nest is usually built by both the manlike and female on the ground . The female will then sit on the ball for 27 to 30 day before they cover .
hatchling are covered in blue downy plume and have ashen bellies , according to the Loon Preservation Committee . Chicks sometime ride on their parent ’s rear , usually for the first seven to 10 Clarence Day . They can , however , swim and dive after just two to three day , and by 12 weeks they are capable to fly on their own . doll become main when they discover to fly , leaving their parent . At 2 to 3 age former the unseasoned will be mature enough to mate .
No one knows on the dot how recollective common loon live in the wild . Some , such as theAnimal Diversity World Wide Web , cover that 9 years is as long as they live while others , like National Geographic , report 30 years .
Classification/taxonomy
Here is the classification of loons , according toIntegrated Taxonomic Information System :
Kingdom : AnimaliaSubkingdom : BilateriaInfrakingdom : DeuterostomiaPhylum : ChordataSubphylum : VertebrataInfraphylum : GnathostomataSuperclass : TetrapodaClass : AvesOrder : GaviiformesFamily : GaviidaeGenus : GaviaSpecies :
Conservation status
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’sRed Listclassifies the common loon as least concern , which intend it is n’t expose and is not close to being jeopardise .
This may change , though . By 2080 , the coarse loon may recede 56 pct of its current summertime chain and 75 percentage of its current wintertime reach due to global thaw , according to a climate model created by the Audubon Society . red of range can mean a decrease in population , which can finally lead to extinction .
Theyellow - billed loonis on the Red List as near threatened . While exact data is lack , it is suspect that populations are declining quickly .
Other facts
The Inuit kin group legally hunt over 4,500 common loons a year for nutrient , according to National Geographic . They are also a food reservoir for the Cree tribe of Canada .
TheU.S. Geological Surveyfound that a loon traveled 670 statute mile ( 1,078 kilometers ) within a 24 - hour period .
Additional Resources
