Loon
Divers/Loons | |
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The common loon (Gavia immer) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Gaviiformes |
Family: | Gaviidae Coues, 1903[1] |
Genus: | Gavia Forster, 1788 |
Type species | |
Gavia immer | |
Diversity | |
5 species | |
Synonyms | |
Family-level: Genus-level: |
Loons (
Description
Loons, which are the size of large
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1918 illustration of a variety of loons by Archibald Thorburn. Top: Common loon, Mid-left: red-throated loon, Mid-right: yellow-billed loon, Bottom: black-throated loon
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Common loon flying exhibiting the typical flight profile of a Gavia species
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Common loon (Gavia immer) rearing up. Note the plump body and pointed but rather short wings
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Yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii) in winter plumage
Male and female loons have identical
Males are larger on average, but relative size is only apparent when the male and female are together. In winter, plumage is dark grey above, with some indistinct lighter mottling on the wings, and a white chin, throat and underside. The specific species can then be distinguished by certain features, such as the size and colour of the head, neck, back and bill. But reliable identification of loons in winter is often difficult even for experts – particularly as the smaller immature birds look similar to winter-plumage adults, making size an unreliable means of identification.[2]
Gaviiformes are among the few groups of birds in which the young
Behaviour and ecology
Loons are excellent swimmers, using their feet to propel themselves above and under water. However, since their feet are located far back on the body, loons have difficulty walking on land, though they can effectively run short distances to reach water when frightened. Thus, loons avoid coming to land, except for mating and nesting.[4]
Loons fly strongly, though they have high wing loading (mass to wing area ratio), which complicates takeoff. Indeed, most species must run upwind across the water's surface with wings flapping to generate sufficient lift to take flight.[5] Only the red-throated loon (G. stellata) can take off from land. Once airborne, loons are capable of long flights during migration. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, who have implanted satellite transmitters in some individuals, have recorded daily flights of up to 1078 km in a 24-hour period, which probably resulted from single movements.[6] North European loons migrate primarily via the South Baltic and directly over land to the Black Sea or Mediterranean. Loons can live as long as 30 years and can hold their breath for as long as 90 seconds while underwater.[7][8]
Loons are migratory birds, and in the winter months they move from their northern freshwater lake nesting habitats to southern marine coastlines. They are well-adapted to this change in salinity, however, because they have special salt glands located directly above their eyes. These glands filter out salts in their blood and flush this salty solution out through their nasal passages, which allows them to immediately consume fish from oceans and drink saltwater after their long migration. [9]
Diet and feeding
Loons find their prey by sight. They eat mainly
To help digestion, loons swallow small pebbles from the bottoms of lakes. Similar to grit eaten by chickens, these gastroliths may assist the loon's gizzard in crushing the hard parts of the loon's food such as the exoskeletons of crustaceans and the bones of frogs and salamanders. The gastroliths may also be involved in stomach cleaning as an aid to regurgitation of indigestible food parts.
Loons may inadvertently ingest small lead pellets, released by anglers and hunters, that will contribute to lead poisoning and the loon's eventual death. Jurisdictions that have banned the use of lead shot and sinkers include but are not limited to Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Michigan, some areas of Massachusetts, Yellowstone National Park, Canada, Great Britain, and Denmark.
Reproduction
Loons nest during the summer on freshwater lakes and/or large ponds. Smaller bodies of water (up to 0.5 km2) will usually only have one pair. Larger lakes may have more than one pair, with each pair occupying a bay or section of the lake. The red-throated loon, however, may nest colonially, several pairs close together, in small Arctic tarns and feed at sea or in larger lakes, ferrying the food in for the young.[7][8]
Loons mate on land, often on the future nest site, and build their nests close to the water, preferring sites that are completely surrounded by water such as islands or emergent vegetation. Loons use a variety of materials to build their nests including aquatic vegetation, pine needles, leaves, grass, moss and mud. Sometimes, nest material is almost lacking. Both male and female build the nest and incubate jointly for 28 days. If the eggs are lost, the pair may re-nest, usually in a different location. Since the nest is very close to the water, rising water may induce the birds to slowly move the nest upwards, over a metre.[7][8]
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Common loon on the nest
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Juvenile red-throated loon
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Common loon feeding its young
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Immature common loon with crayfish
Despite the roughly equal participation of the sexes in nest building and incubation, analysis has shown clearly that males alone select the location of the nest. This pattern has the important consequence that male loons, but not females, establish significant site-familiarity with their territories that allows them to produce more chicks there over time. Sex-biased site-familiarity might explain, in part, why resident males fight so hard to defend their territories.[10]
Most
Biologists, especially from Chapman University, have extensively studied the mating behaviour of the common loon (G. immer). Contrary to popular belief, pairs seldom mate for life. Indeed, a typical adult loon is likely to have several mates during its lifetime because of territorial takeover. Each breeding pair must frequently defend its territory against "floaters" (territory-less adults) trying to evict at least one owner and seize the breeding site. Territories that have produced chicks in the past year are especially prone to takeovers, because nonbreeding loons use chicks as cues to indicate high-quality territories. One-third of all territorial evictions among males result in the death of the owner; in contrast, female loons usually survive. Birds that are displaced from a territory but survive usually try to re-mate and (re)claim a breeding territory later in life.[12][13][14][15]
In 2020, a loon hatched for the first time in over a century in Southeastern Massachusetts at Fall River, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and Biodiversity Research Institute. The chicks were relocated in 2015 with the hopes of re-establishing breeding and nesting patterns.[16]
Etymology and taxonomy
The European Anglophone name "diver" comes from the bird's habit of catching fish by swimming calmly along the surface and then abruptly plunging into the water. The North American name "loon" likely comes from either the Old English word lumme, meaning lummox or awkward person, or the Scandinavian word lum meaning lame or clumsy. Either way, the name refers to the loon's poor ability to walk on land.[17]
Another possible derivation is from the Norwegian word lom for these birds, which comes from Old Norse lómr, possibly cognate with English "lament", referring to the characteristic plaintive sound of the loon.[18] The scientific name Gavia refers to seabirds in general.[19]
The
The term gavia was transferred from the ducks to the loons only in the 18th century. Earlier
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature tried to settle this issue in 1956 by declaring Colymbus a suppressed name unfit for further use and establishing Gavia, created by Johann Reinhold Forster in 1788, as the valid genus name for the loons. However, the situation was not completely resolved even then, and the following year the ICZN had to act again to prevent Louis Pierre Vieillot's 1818 almost-forgotten family name Urinatoridae from overruling the much younger Gaviidae. Some eminent ornithologists such as Pierce Brodkorb tried to keep the debate alive, but the ICZN's solution has been satisfactory.[21][22][23][24]
Systematics and evolution
All living species are placed in the genus Gavia. It has been suggested that the genus Gavia originated in Europe during the
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Cladogram of the extant Gavia species.[26] |
Lineage | Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
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Basal lineage | Red-throated loon or red-throated diver, Gavia stellata |
Northern hemisphere generally north of 50°, inland in summer and in coastal areas in winter as far south as Florida and southern China[27] | |
Black-throated lineage | Black-throated loon, Arctic loon, or black-throated diver, Gavia arctica |
Northern Europe and Asia, breeding inland and wintering on Atlantic and Pacific coasts[28] | |
Pacific loon or Pacific diver, Gavia pacifica (formerly in G. arctica) |
northern Canada and eastern Siberia, and winters along the Pacific coast of North America | ||
Black-headed lineage | Common loon, or great northern diver, Gavia immer |
coasts and lakes of Canada and the US as far south as Mexico, and on the Atlantic coast of Europe | |
Yellow-billed loon or white-billed diver, Gavia adamsii |
Russia, Canada and the United States, Mexico and Spain. |
Fossil record
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Cladogram of the Gavia species with the inclusion of fossil species.[29] |
Nearly ten prehistoric species have been named to date in the genus Gavia, and about as many undescribed ones await further study. The genus is known from the Early Miocene onwards, and the oldest members are rather small (some are smaller than the
List of fossil Gavia species
- †G. brodkorbi Howard, 1978 (Late Miocene of Orange County, United States)
- †G. concinna Wetmore, 1940 (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of west and east United States)
- †G. egeriana Švec, 1982 (Early Miocene of Czechoslovakia ?and Cheswold, Delaware, United States –? Yorktown Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, United States)[30]
- †
- †G. howardae Brodkorb, 1953 (San Diego Formation, California[31] and Yorktown Formation, North Carolina[29]
- †G. moldavica Kessler, 1984 (Late Miocene of Chişinău, Moldova)[32]
- †G. palaeodytes Wetmore, 1943 (Bone Valley Early/Middle Pliocene of Pierce, Florida, United States)[33]
- †G. paradoxa Umanska, 1981 (Late Miocene of Čebotarevka, Ukraine)[32]
- †G. schultzi Mlíkovský, 1998 (Middle Miocene of Sankt Margarethen, Austria)[25]
List of fossil Gavia specimens
- Gavia sp. (Early-Middle Miocene of eastern United States)[34]
- Gavia sp. (Calvert Middle Miocene ?or Pleistocene of Maryland, United States) – same as Gavia cf. immer below?[35]
- Gavia spp. (Middle Miocene of Steinheim, Germany) – three species[32]
- Gavia sp. (Early Pliocene of Empoli, Italy)[36]
- Gavia sp. (Early Pliocene of Kerč Peninsula, Ukraine)[32]
- Gavia cf. concinna (San Diego Middle/Late[37] Pliocene of San Diego, California, United States) – two species?[38]
- Gavia sp. (Early Pleistocene of Kairy, Ukraine)[32]
- Gavia cf. immer (Pleistocene of California and Florida, United States) – possibly a G. immer paleosubspecies[39]
"Gavia" portisi from the
In popular culture
- Various Indigenous myths from the California region have a recurring figure, Loon or Loon Woman, based on the common loon.[41]
- The common loon is the provincial bird of Ontario and is depicted on the Canadian one-dollar coin, which has come to be known affectionately as the "loonie".[42]
- The common loon is the official state bird of Minnesota.[43]
- Mercer, Wisconsin, promotes itself as the "Loon Capital of the World".[44]
- Henry David Thoreau describes a playful and inspiring acquaintance with a loon on Walden Pond in his book Walden.[45]
- The Great Lakes Loons are a minor-league professional baseball team based in Midland, Michigan, United States. The primary mascot is Lou E. Loon.[46]
- The Warner Bros./Amblin cartoon Tiny Toon Adventures features Shirley the Loon, who speaks with a thick Valley girl accent and is obsessed with superficial New Age paraphernalia. She is voiced by Saturday Night Live cast member Gail Matthius.[47]
- The Major League Soccer club Minnesota United FC use a loon in the club's crest, and as a nickname for the team.[48]
- Thanks to its inclusion as a preset in the E-mu Emulator, a specific sample of a Canadian loon, notably heard in "Sueño Latino" (1989) and in 808 State’s "Pacific State" (1989), has become a recurring motif in electronic-based popular music.[49][50]
References
- ^ Melville, RV; Smith, JDD, eds. (1987). Official Lists and Indexes of Names and Works in Zoology. ICZN. p. 17.
- ^ Appleby, R.H.; Steve C. Madge; Mullarney, Killian (1986). "Identification of divers in immature and winter plumages". British Birds. 79 (8): 365–91.
- Olson, Storrs L. (1985). "Section X.I. Gaviiformes"(PDF). In Farner, D.S.; King, J.R.; Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.). Avian Biology. Vol. 8. pp. 212–14.
- OCLC 17650487.
- ^ Evers, David C., James D. Paruk, Judith W. Mcintyre and Jack F. Barr. 2010. Common Loon (Gavia immer), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/313
- ^ "Common Loon Migration Study - Frequently Asked Questions". Umesc.usgs.gov. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
- ^ JSTOR 4160227.
- ^ JSTOR 1367094.
- ^ "Ask the Scientist". National Loon Center Foundation. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- PMID 17976165.
- ^ D'Auria, Danielle (2020-05-18). "Bald Eagle Shot Through the Heart – By a Loon!". Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- S2CID 53178013.
- ^ Piper, W. H.; Evers, D. C.; Meyer, M. W.; Tischler, K. B.; Klich, M. (2000). "Do common loons mate for life?: scientific investigation of a widespread myth.". In McIntyre, J.; Evers, D. C. (eds.). Loons: Old History and New Findings.. pp. 43–49.
- S2CID 23085958.
- .
- ^ "Loon hatches for 1st time in century in southeastern region". AP NEWS. 2020-07-10. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ISBN 9780761477754.
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "loon". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
- ^ LoonWatch – Loon FAQs|Northland College Archived 2010-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Brodkorb (1963: pp. 223–24)
- ^ S2CID 170648873.
- Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (10th ed., vol. 1): 190 [Latin book]. Lars Salvius, Stockholm ("Holmius"). Digitized version
- ^ International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) (1957–58). "The family-group names "Gaviidae" Coues, 1903 and "Urinatoridae" (correction of "Urinatores)" Vieillot, 1818 (Class Aves) – "Opinion" 401 and "Direction" 75". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 15A: 147–48.
- ^ Brodkorb (1963: p. 223)
- ^ a b Mlíkovský, Jiří (1998). "A new loon (Aves: Gaviidae) from the middle Miocene of Austria" (PDF). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Serie A: 331–339.
- ^ a b Boertmann, D. (1990). "Phylogeny of the divers, family Gaviidae (Aves)". Steenstrupia. 16: 21–36.
- . Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ .
- ^ A small loon, smaller than G. howardae: Olson (1985: pp. 213–214), Rasmussen (1998), Mlíkovský (2002: p. 63)
- JSTOR 1364769.
- ^ a b c d e Mlíkovský (2002: p. 64)
- ^ Known from a few limb bones. Roughly similar in size to Pacific loon, but proportions seem to differ and apparently not close to any living species except maybe red-throated loon: Brodkorb (1953).
- sympatric contemporary G. egeriana-like birds. Probably a distinct species – sexual dimorphism in loons is not very pronounced: Rasmussen (1998).
- USNM 16612, distal right tibiotarsus. Smaller than common loon; the polished-bone look and large size of the specimen makes a Miocene origin rather unlikely: Wetmore (1941), Olson (1985: p. 214).
- ^ Known from a skull very similar to the black-throated loon. Initially assigned to G. concinna, but this is not very likely: Mlíkovský (2002: p. 64), and see also at "Gavia" portisi.
- ^ BRODKORB, PIERCE (July 1953). "A REVIEW OF THE PLIOCENE LOONS" (PDF). Searchable Ornothological Research Archive.
- LACM 2110, 2142) assigned to G. concinna, but apparently one or two undescribed smaller species, about the size of the Pacific loon: Brodkorb (1953), Mlíkovský (2002: p. 64).
- ^ a b Brodkorb (1953)
- ^ Brodkorb (1963: p. 224), Mlíkovský (2002: pp. 64, 256–57)
- JSTOR 535774.
- ISBN 1-4120-2276-2, p. 143
- ISBN 0-7565-0315-9, p. 44
- ISBN 0-7607-5944-8, p. 78
- ^ chapter "Brute Neighbors"
- Booth Newspapers. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- ^ Tiny Toon Adventures (TV Series 1990â€"1995), retrieved 2019-01-29
- Star-Tribune. Minneapolis. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- ^ Philip Shurburne (8 September 2014). ""Anaconda", "Pacific State", "Sueño Latino", and the Story of a Sample That Keeps Coming Back". Pitchfork.
- ^ "Classic Tracks: 808 State 'Pacific State'". Soundonsound.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
Bibliography
- JSTOR 1364769.
- Brodkorb, Pierce (1963). "Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 1 (Archaeopterygiformes through Ardeiformes)". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 7 (4): 179–293.
- Mayr, Gerald (2004). "A partial skeleton of a new fossil loon (Aves, Gaviiformes) from the early Oligocene of Germany with preserved stomach content" (PDF). S2CID 1070943. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
- Mayr, Gerald (2009). Paleogene Fossil Birds. Heidelberg/New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-540-89627-2.
- Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002). Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe (PDF). Prague: Ninox Press.
- Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (Montana FW&P) (2007): Animal Field Guide: Common Loon; retrieved 2007-05-12.
- Olson, Storrs L. (1985). "Section X.I. Gaviiformes"(PDF). In Farner, D.S.; King, J.R.; Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.). Avian Biology. Vol. 8. pp. 212–14.
- Rasmussen, Pamela C. (1998). "Early Miocene Avifauna from the Pollack Farm Site, Delaware" (PDF). Delaware Geological Survey Special Publication. 21: 149–51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
- Sprengelmeyer, Quentin D (April 2014). A PHYLOGENETIC REEVALUATION OF THE GENUS GAVIA (AVES: GAVIIFORMES) USING NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING (Thesis). Northern Michigan University.
- JSTOR 1365096.
- JSTOR 4078641.
- United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) (2005): Common Loons at Seney NWR (June 2005), fws.gov; accessed July 6, 2017.
Recordings
- Voices of the Loon, National Audubon Society. (1980)
External links
- Tree of Life Gaviidae
- Loon sounds
- Loon videos Archived 2011-09-03 at the Wayback Machine on the Internet Bird Collection
- The Loon Project website
- Loon Preservation Committee
- Diving Birds of North America by Paul Johnsgard
- Loon Dreaming - an animated short from the National Film Board of Canada