A Guide to Common Loon Behaviors
Watching loons is a core experience of visiting or living in the Adirondacks. If you spend enough time quietly floating in the vicinity of loons, you’re likely to witness all kinds of behavior, from feeding to defending territory to caring for chicks.
Understanding the common behaviors of common loons can give you greater insight into their biology, and help you understand when the behaviors you are seeing are normal or signs of distress.
Common Loon Behaviors
A peering loon is often looking for fish to eat.
Peering
Loons “peer” underwater to look for fish or to see what other loons are doing under the surface. When loons “peer,” they dip their bill and eyes under the surface, kind of like a snorkeler looking for fish in a coral reef. Chicks will also “peer” under the surface to watch their parents when they are learning how to hunt.
Loon chicks will ride on their parents’ back until they are about three weeks old when they become too big.
Back-Riding
In the first couple weeks of their lives, you might see a chick on its parents’ back, snuggled into their wings, and taking a nap. Riding on their parents’ backs helps keeps chicks warm and safe from predators.
The hangover position is a sign of distress - please give nesting loons more space!
Hangover Position
If an adult loon on a nest feels threatened, it will lower its head and hang it over the edge of the nest towards the water. This is a sign of distress - the loon is preparing to slide quickly off the nest and into the safety of the water. If loons are compelled to flee their nests too frequently, they might abandon the nest permanently. Fleeing often can also interrupt the incubation of eggs until they are no longer viable.
The penguin dance is an aggressive, territorial act.
Penguin Dancing
The penguin dance is an aggressive display usually done by males to defend territory or chicks from another loon, predators or boats. It is a sign of distress that is energy intensive. Male loons will often yodel while penguin dancing, another sign of distress.
Wing-rowing helps loons move quickly across large distances.
Wing-Rowing
Loons will use their wings and powerful legs to propel themselves across lakes. Sometimes they wing-row when fighting over territory or to escape a territorial dispute. Wing-rowing can sometimes be mistaken for an injury that is preventing the loon from taking flight, but it is actually a normal way to move quickly across large distances.
Bathing loons are often mistaken for loons in distress because they flap, roll, splash and thrash around. A bathing loon will begin to preen after 10-30 minutes of bathing.
Bathing and Preening
Loons bathe and preen regularly to keep their feathers clean and waterproof. While bathing, loons roll, splash and wing-flap repeatedly. Their actions can easily be mistaken for a bird in distress. Baths can take up 30 minutes, and then they will begin to preen. Loons have a small gland called the uropygial gland near their tails that produces oil that they will rub into the surface of their feathers to keep them waterproof. While trying to access hard-to-reach places, loons will crane and bend their necks in odd directions.
A foot-wagging loon is a happy loon indeed.
Foot Wagging
Loons sometimes raise one of their legs out of the water to stretch, regulate their body temperature or to simply hold it there for a while. Foot wags are not signs of an injured loon, but rather a relaxed loon.
Know When To Call for Help: Signs of Distress in Loons
At the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation, we welcome calls from the public about potential loons in distress. If we determine that there is a loon in need of help, we will send someone out to rescue the loon and then do everything we can to treat it and release it back into the wild. Knowing the difference between a loon in distress and a loon just being a loon is key to making sure we only get serious calls.
A major sign of distress in loons is when they appear unconcerned with human presence. A loon that is swimming lethargically, maybe in shallow water, does not seem to notice or care if humans approach, or cannot hold its head above water is likely experiencing illness or the effects of lead poisoning.
A grounded loon is a loon in distress - loons cannot walk, so if they get stuck on land, they are stranded.
Fishing line entanglement is a life-threatening situation for a loon.
If you see a loon on land far from a lake shore, that is a loon distress. Because loons cannot walk on dry land, if they land on a roadway or other area far from water, they will be stranded and likely die of predation, starvation or exposure. We don’t always know why loons end up on roadways, but it may be because they are already weakened from an illness or injury, or because they mistake wet pavement for open water.
Loons – and other wildlife – can easily get tangled in discarded or broken fishing line. Fishing line entanglement can prevent loons from moving freely or feeding themselves or chicks, and they often will die of starvation or lead poisoning if the fishing line had lead fishing tackle attached to it. If you see a loon with fishing line wrapped around any part of its body, please give us a call.
What to do if you see a loon in distress
If you encounter a loon that appears to be in distress or is visibly injured or tangled in fishing line, you can call our office at 518-354-8636. Please be prepared to share your name, contact information, location and to describe what you see. If you are able to take a video or photograph, this can help us better assess the situation. We will give you instructions over the phone and arrange for someone to assist.
Denise Silfee, ACLC Education & Communications Director