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Two questions:
Why is this loon doing waving his foot in the air?
Is this common behavior for Common Loon?
I watched this family of three loons in Galveston Bay yesterday for about an hour. The same one would wave the same foot around every once in a while. I googled it and found a few other mentions of this behavior, but I didn't find out why they do it.
The inset three photos are the same loon composited together.
I have also seen them do this ffot raising, but do not know why
Very common, but I can't tell you why they do it.............
I believe it is a means for thermoregulation. Birds are rather well insulated and have no sweat glands. For a bird like a loon one way to cool off is to put a big wet foot up in the air and let evaporation do the job.
Myer and Steve,
Thanks for the replies. Good to know that this is normal behavior and the little guy was okay.
Declan,
That certainly sounds like a good explanation to me. Thanks!
Patti
Patti,
I forgot to mention that this is not a traditional family of loons as junior (the bird on the right) appears to be a Pacific Loon. Just coincidence that they were all together.
Declan
