Keeping
Loon Babies Safe From Harmful Human Activities
Each pair
of loons only lays two eggs, and they're lucky if both babies reach
adulthood. Baby loons face all kind of dangers—coyotes, raccoons,
foxes, even gulls and Bald Eagles eat baby loons! But the biggest
danger they face is from humans and human actions. Sometimes people
harass loons on purpose, but that happens less now because more people
have become aware of loons' needs. More often people hurt loons without
even knowing it. Three of the most deadly ways are:
- Going
fishing with sinkers made from lead, which can poison and kill loons.
One researcher found that loons seem to eat sinkers attached to fish
jigs, which flutter in the water like fish. Loons + lead = sick or
dead. You can help Get
the Lead Out!
- Throwing
things in the garbage that include mercury. When old fluorescent
light tubes and bulbs or old mercury thermometers are incinerated
or break down in a landfill, mercury can be added to the atmosphere,
eventually to return to earth in rainfall, or seep directly into
the groundwater. When this mercury makes its way into lakes, it contributes
to one of the top ways loons die—mercury poisoning. Items that
contain mercury should be brought to a hazardous waste facility,
where the mercury can be removed and dealt with in an environmentally
safe way. Read more at Mercury
Alert!
- Helping
predators find baby loons. Sometimes people in canoes, jet-skis,
or boats get too close to a pair of loons and their babies. The loons
give the tremolo call when stressed or scared. That means "Back
off!" If the danger is still present after the parents have
called a few times, the will sink into the water and swim away. They'll
pop up far away and call to their babies to follow them, but it may
be too late. Eagles and gulls that heard the tremolo often fly over
in hopes of finding an unprotected baby loon. During the time the
little loons are scrambling to find their parents again, they can
get eaten.
Try
This! Video Viewing and Journaling
- The
loon in the video is making the alarm call. Can you tell what the
loon is alarmed about? The beak moves with each call the loon makes.
One part of the video shows the throat wiggle and neck rise just
a little as the sound is produced. Can you see that? Notice how the
bird holds its neck in a curve, with the weight balanced for this
slow-speed swimming. You can also see how far back on its body the
loon's webbed feet are. How is the loon designed for the life it
leads? After you view the video and list your thoughts, explore our
lessons on Adaptations
That Help Loons Survive.
|