What’s Ontario’s favourite animal? The case for the common loon

Alberta has the bighorn sheep. Manitoba has the plains bison. Yukon has the raven. So what’s Ontario’s official animal?

We don’t have one — yet.

The loon is our official bird, but we can’t help but think that Ontario’s other furry and feathery (and slippery and leathery) denizens haven’t been given a chance to compete.

That’s why, over the next eight weeks, TVO.org will be giving 16 Ontario animals their turn in the spotlight. You’ll learn about how they live, what threats they’re facing, and how they reflect the province’s character. At the end of the series, you’ll get the chance to make your voice heard — and to vote for your favourite critter. 

The winner may not end up on a flag or a coat of arms. But they’ll get a fancy title: Ontario’s unofficial official animal.

Click here for complete voting information, including matchup schedules.

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Coloured illustrations of British birds, and their eggs. London: G.W. Nickisson, 1842-1850. (Biodiversity Heritage Library/Flickr)

Species/scientific name: Gavia immer 

Adult size: 66-91 centimetres (26.0-35.8 inches)

Adult weight: 2.5-6.1 kilograms (5.5-13.4 pounds)

Wingspan: 104-131 centimetres (40.9-51.6 inches)

Longevity: 15-30 years in the wild

Feeding and diet: Small fish, insects, and crustaceans make up the bulk of the loon’s diet 

Predators: Adult loons don’t have to contend with many predators thanks to their size and aggression. But loon eggs are vulnerable to a host of threats, including hungry raccoons, and young loons make a tasty snack for species like the bald eagle.

Threats: Climate change, abandoned fishing gear, habitat loss

Habitat: In summer, common loons can be found in lakes across Ontario. In winter, they traditionally head south 

Range: Lakes and wetlands across much of Canada. Loons overwinter as far south as the Gulf of Mexico

Conservation status in Ontario: Common loons aren’t endangered, precisely, but the consequences of climate change and habitat loss mean they’re not secure either. Ontario’s species-at-risk committee hasn’t analyzed the species. Canada’s broader registry, COSEWIC, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature have both designated the loon as low-concern.

(Peter Ferguson/Ontario Nature)

The iconic common loon, with its black-and-white summer plumage and operatic vocal range, has already captured Ontarians’ hearts as the official provincial bird — and Canadians’ hearts as the bird that gave our $1 coin its name. But why stop there? This husky critter, who can weigh in at more than six kilos, deserves all the honours. It’s not just the tops when it comes to the province’s avian creatures. It’s the best animal the province has to offer, periodt (as the youths would say).

Whether sailing majestically across the lake or sleekly diving underneath and popping up as much as five minutes later, these birds are entrancing. “Their call still evokes the sense of wilderness,” says Jay Mager, a professor of biology at Ohio Northern University who has studied the bird for the past 32 years.

Voices: Common loon

It all started when Mager spent summers at his grandfather’s cabin near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario,  and watched the loon families of Ranger Lake. He wasn’t alone: “When the loons came around, everybody jumped out of the cabin and went down to the shore,” he says. That fascination has never left him. In fact, he spoke to TVO.org from a wildlife refuge while on a research trip/vacation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. “I’m looking at a loon right now in front of me, and it’s bringing back a lot of memories,” he said on the call. 

Unlike many cottages today, Mager’s family cabin had no electricity to power lights, never mind a television set. (Trips to the Soo for groceries and gas were a monthly affair, he says.) But the drama of a loon nesting season continues to fascinate wilderness-seekers across Ontario even in the age of smartphones. 

Wild fact: Loon couples have been known to stay together for 25 years.

“Days of Our Loons” is how Kathy Jones of Birds Canada describes it. A biologist with the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey, she used to study bald eagles before the lure of the loon caught her, too. The summer nesting season is “a real soap opera,” she says. 

Loons are big, loud, and charismatic at the best of times, but when it comes to matters of the heart, they truly shine. With bodies designed to spend nearly all the time on or in water, the bird can waddle only short distances. Breeding is one of the few reasons they seek out the shore.

They are monogamous, says Jones, and couples have been known to stay together for a whopping 25 years, visiting the same nesting site every single summer and working on a new batch of chicks. They might make up to three nesting attempts in a single year, each time trying to hatch one to two eggs.

The perfect site — a protected and isolated snatch of shoreline on the mainland or an island — isn’t easy to secure, Jones says. It can take a male up to eight years to fine-tune its location. Even when he does, the couple must protect their real estate from the neighbours: other house-hunting loons. 

(Ano Lobb/WIkipedia)

They must also fend off a legion of potential threats to their eggs and loonlets, including raccoons, bald eagles, and irresponsible boaters who risk swamping the nest with their wake or separating the baby loons from their parents on the water. There’s much at stake, she says: loon couples really are together for the babies, and if they can’t reproduce, often “the pair breaks up.”

Jones coordinates a legion of loon enthusiasts to watch and document the show each year as part of the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey. These volunteers — mostly summer residents of lakeside cabins, camps, and cottages — check in with their loons three times throughout the summer, tracking who has returned to nest, how the family is doing, and whether the chicks have survived long enough to fledge. This effort has produced more than 40 years of data on loon breeding behaviour that has helped scientists understand the species better and conservationists advocate for its protection. 

Migration is a big deal, says Mager. It’s a costly endeavour, biologically speaking: the solid-boned bodies of common loons, perfect for shooting through the water after fish, mean the load on their wings is significant. Staying aloft consumes important calories, too: adults eat as much as 0.91 kg (2 pounds) of fish per day just to fuel their metabolism.

(Peter Ferguson/Ontario Nature)

Not much is known yet about what the birds get up to when overwintering or why some loons have stopped migrating at all. But Mager, who is currently studying the issue, suspects it’s important to their life cycle: “My guess is that migration is not trivial for loons.”

It’s just one of many natural-history unknowns about this charismatic bird. “We’ve got a basic grasp on a lot of these things, but we really could learn so much more,” Mager says. 

One thing we do know for sure is how to protect them during breeding season. Priority one, Jones says: “Remember at the lake you’re not the only species there.” When it comes to loons, that means keeping speed down near the shorelines and trying not to unnecessarily disturb the area.

In addition, she says, “try to make sure you make good fishing decisions.” Although lead-free tackle can be difficult to acquire, it makes a world of difference, she says — and so does cleaning up fishing gear when you’re ready to go home. 

A Year in the Life of a Canadian Loon

Loon families are adorable (loonlets often ride piggyback on their parents while getting used to the water), and a solo loon cruising the lake is a majestic sight — but Mager cautions that it’s also important to not get too close and to respect loon warning signs. A “tremolo” call, which sounds like a laugh, can be a warning for you to get back. A low posture over the water or on the nest can mean the same. 

If loons aren’t respected, they can lose a nest and those adorable babies, which threatens species survival long-term as well as being a real bummer in the moment. “If you have loons, that’s wonderful,” Mager says. They’re an important ecological indicator species, and their presence on a lake is a sign that it’s healthy and has good shoreline. But, like any wild animal, Ontario’s finest need their space. 

 

This series is produced with the assistance of Ontario Nature.