Week of 02.03.25
A highly requested fan favorite, and the American Birding Association’s 2025 bird of the YEAR, the common loon!
The common loon, usually just called a loon, is a black and white water bird with a beady red eye. These birds live in the Northern United States and Southern Canada, with migration patterns throughout the whole continental United States, Alaska, and Canada. An adult loon has a long, duck-like body with a black head. Their wings are black with small white stripes and dots, although from a distance, they usually appear all black.
Most birds have hollow bones to assist with in-flight aerodynamics. Not the loon! Loons have solid bones, which help them dive. The added density and weight of solid bones make these birds expert fishers. A loon's heart rate will also slow under water, allowing them to remain submerged for extended periods of time.
In visual art, loons are often depicted on an open, slow moving body of water. Believe it or not, there is a scientific reason behind this. Loons require a long stretch of water, sometimes up to a quarter mile, to gain enough speed to take off. A fast moving river or narrow stream would not provide loons with the runway to fly.
Loons are best known for their eerie, mournful cry. You can listen to it below.
The loon is solidly cemented in Americana, with most Midwestern states, like Minnesota and Wisconsin, declaring it a full-blown cultural icon. Are you interested in the world's largest floating loon sculpture? I have great news. Take a trip to Minnesota and view the 20 foot long fiberglass bird with your own eyes. Careful though - it is taken to shore during the winter months to avoid damage. Plan your trip accordingly.
The loon is unsurprisingly a muse for authors, poets, and musicians in the North Woods as well. One song, The Life of a Voyager, chronicles a solo journey in the Canadian Boundary waters. The melody is solem, like a loon's call, traditionally performed with only voices and a guitar.
Call of the lonely loon
coyotes howling at the moon
wind rustling through the trees
that’s a Canadian breeze
smoke rising from the fire
up through the trees which in stately spires
reach towards the evening glow
sun goes down, no northwinds blow
You can read the rest of the lyrics by Mary Satterfield Swanson here.
This is not the only song that mentions - or samples - loons. Yesterday, the 67th annual Grammy Awards took place in Los Angles, California. Grammy nominated and grammy winning artists ranging in style from Micheal Jackson to Doja Cat have used the loon call in wildly mainstream music without drawing attention to it. Have you noticed? Scan this playlist from the Audobon Society for familiar titles. Every song featured on this list contains a loon call.
It doesn’t stop there. If you have an iPhone, you likely have the loon call as a ringtone option. It is a stock sound heard in films that aren’t set in loon habitats. Horror movies overlay the sound when characters sit by scary lakes.
I have questions for Hollywood. What is going on?!
The long answer: the loon sound became popularized by the rise of the synthesizer and sound sampling in the early 2000s; a wonderful article from the Audubon Society explains it in immense detail here. The short answer: people just really love loons. And so do I.
Thank you to those who submitted the loon as this week’s bird. You can submit your own on the suggest a bird page.
Have a great week!
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Sources:
Art by Anne Longman