Loons
Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae
Loons are aquatic birds size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated. Their plumage is largely grey or black, they have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim well, and fly adequately, but, because their legs are placed towards the rear of the body, are almost hopeless on land. In Connecticut, three species have been recorded.
- Red-throated Loon, Gavia stellata — rather common, mostly along the coast and at the mouths of major rivers during spring and fall migration; uncommon in winter and at that time found mostly in eastern Long Island Sound; as many as 100 to 200 individuals gather together in November; many go south by early winter.
- Pacific Loon, Gavia pacifica (R)
- Common Loon, Gavia immer — historically, the bird rarely nests in Connecticut and no recent nesting was observed up to 2004 in the state; rather common in spring and fall during migration; found in coastal waters, large lakes, and reservoirs; most likely to be seen in eastern Long Island Sound; pollution (particularly acidified lakes which cut back on food resources and mercury poisoning) has cut the population in the Northeast, along with fluctuating reservoir levels and lakeshore residential development.
Read more about this topic: List Of Birds Of Connecticut
Famous quotes containing the word loons:
“At length, having come up fifty rods off, he uttered one of those prolonged howls, as if calling on the god of loons to aid him, and immediately there came a wind from the east and rippled the surface, and filled the whole air with misty rain, and I was impressed as if it were the prayer of the loon answered, and his god was angry with me; and so I left him disappearing far away on the tumultuous surface.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)