Social Loons

[Jeff Dyck]

This morning while out for a paddle, I encountered a group of 4 adult loons all swimming and fishing together - a first for me at this time of year. On several occasions in the fall I have observed large rafts of Common Loons staging for migration, but I have not known loons to be particularly social this early in the year. Is this unusual?

[allanrube]

Could it be a group of unattached males?

[John Chardine]

Hi Jeff- Agreed, I think it is unusual. As you probably know, in the breeding season, Common Loons are territorial and pairs are separated on a lake or just a single pair. This depends on how big and productive the lake is, and therefore how many loons it can support. Without knowing the status and sex of each bird it is hard to interpret precisely what might be happening. It is likely they are younger birds of breeding age that did not breed, or they bred but failed, and are forming flocks just as successful breeders do after the breeding season.

[Karen Forderer]

This July we have observed 3 different groups consisting of 3 adult loons. We also found it to be unusual. My thought was that they were unattached younger adults. We have seen more loons than ever this year; 44 including 7 babies spread over 4 lakes and 2 rivers.