or seen one for that matter? they're amazingly beautiful birds with a HAUNTING cry, well more like a wail.
there's a place in connecticut called great pond. i saw my first loon there many years ago. i was spellbound
Loons Change Tunes After Finding a New Home, Study Finds
Nicholas Bakalar for National Geographic News
April 11, 2006
Birdwatchers know that male loons have characteristic calls that remain relatively stable from year to year.
But a new study has found that when a male loon (see photo) changes territories to find a new mate, he changes his call, too. Why this happens is a mystery.
Charles Walcott, a biologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, lead the research, which focused on loons in a Michigan wildlife refuge.
Walcott explains that the male's call—or yodel—is highly significant for other males, and scientists have decoded only part of it.
"The yodel is an important signal from one male to another," Walcott said. "We know that the yodel codes for the size of the loon—the bigger the loon, the lower [pitched] the yodel. ......
(top photo: thebirches.com bottom photo: idiocentrism.com)
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5 comments:
I believe the loon's call is nature's best work. The bird is a work of art.
i have a stuffed loon someone made from scratch. it's beautiful too. i'll have to locate it and take a picture of it.
you're right that call is so very special BUT frightening at the same time
I love the sound of a loon... And they're a pleasure to watch, especially at dawn or dusk, throw in a bit of fog, maybe a moose out grazing in the water, it's heaven.
they're on the lakes up here in Maine...tons of them. They have the best sound of any bird.
They sound like noise you could make when you put your hands together and blow when you were a kid and all your friends would be amazed. At least, all mine were :-)
sage, you're right. a lake WITH fog is the best. i've not seen a moose in real life, but my friend gail sent me pictures of four that were in her back yard. the pictures are on the nutmeg grater. go back a couple of weeks.
jeremy, yup i know they are in abundance up there. however, i HEARD then saw my first ones here in connecticut. and i cannot make that sound or WHISTLE with my fingers. i want to do both~!
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