Reproductive Success
The Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation monitors the nesting and reproductive success of Common Loons in the Adirondack Park. Since 2013, the ACLC has collaborated with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to install nest cameras at select nest sites across the Adirondack Park. These cameras allow us to document loon nesting behaviors and to gain a better understanding of the threats that can cause a nest to fail.
A loon inspects a nest camera on an Adirondack lake. Notice the nest in the background among the reeds.
Nest Cameras
Capturing loon activity on camera during the critical breeding season each summer gives us deeper insight into nesting behaviors, clutch size, hatch dates, disturbance levels, and predation patterns affecting nesting success. Cameras act as our eyes and help give a broader picture of factors affecting nesting success.
The results of this study, based on almost 100,000 photos collected over 4 years, have already helped guide management efforts to better protect loon nests in the Adirondacks.
The intriguing images from this project help us illustrate the signs of loon nesting disturbance to homeowners and visitors. This information allows humans to respectfully observe nature by giving loons the space they need to successfully hatch chicks.
The project helped us discover and document previously unknown threats like black bear predation. We have also been closely monitoring the impacts of water level fluctuations that result from increasing frequency and duration of storms.
Monitoring
The ACLC trains a summer field staff who provide us with invaluable information about breeding loons in the Adirondacks. Each field staff member has a set of lakes that they visit each week, and they keep a record of which loons they see and how many chicks those loons successfully raise. This helps us to understand where loons are struggling in the Adirondacks and how the population is doing as a whole.
Individual loons are identified by a unique combination of color bands that researchers attach to their legs when they are captured and banded. This has enabled us to ask questions like:
How long do loons live? (20 to 30 years!)
Do loons mate with the same partner for life? (Not always)
Do loons return to the same lake each year? (Yes)
