Minnesota Loon Project

The Study

The Minnesota Loon Project is a long-term scientific investigation of territoriality, breeding ecology, and population dynamics of common loons in north-central Minnesota that began in 2021. We conduct field observation of a study population of 110 breeding pairs in Crow Wing and Cass counties that we have marked with colored leg bands so that we can track their survival, breeding success, and territorial behavior throughout their lives. We have published 35 scientific articles on loon behavior, ecology, and conservation.

Who We Are

The project is directed by Walter Piper of Chapman University in Orange, California. I grew up in Cleveland and Houston, but my family spent summers on Squam Lake in New Hampshire and on Lake Temagami, in central Ontario. On those two lakes I heard and saw loons. Like many folks, I was instantly enchanted. I began to mark and study loons in Oneida County, Wisconsin in 1993. In 2021, I added a new Minnesota Study Area in Crow Wing and Cass Counties. It is the Minnesota study that I am seeking funds to continue here. 

I have worked with a dedicated team of collaborators, supporters, and friends over the years. Without these folks — especially the kind people of Minnesota who share my passion for loons and strive to help them any way they can — my work would be impossible. The unsung heroes of the project are student research assistants, who work many lonely hours collecting data on loons, usually as a means to get field experience in preparation for a career in animal behavior, ecology, or wildlife biology.

Could Loons Disappear from the Upper Midwest?

It is difficult to imagine spending time on northern lakes without hearing the calls of loons. Yet a recent study projected that the breeding range of the common loon will shift hundreds of miles northwards in coming decades. If so, folks living in Minnesota would have to drive north to Canada to see loons. I will move Heaven and Earth to keep this horrible prospect from coming true. 

What do we know about the current loon population of Minnesota? Comprehensive statewide data come from Breeding Bird Surveys*, which have been conducted by expert birders on fixed routes across North American since 1967. These data (see below) show that the loon population was on an upswing from 1967 until about 2010 in the state, but have been falling sharply in the past decade and a half.

           

Why Our Work Matters

The data collected by the Loon Project in northern Wisconsin since 1993 echo the pattern above; breeding success and population size rose in the late 1990s and early 2000s but are now in sharp decline. In Minnesota, we have more limited data, yet there are three indications of decline. Body condition of Minnesota adults has begun to decrease, in parallel with Wisconsin. Chick production in Minnesota is on a downwards trajectory. Perhaps most alarming, the survival rate of young adults in Minnesota -- which we measure by marking many loon chicks and reobserving them as young adults when they return to Minnesota to search for breeding territories -- is around 10%. That is far too low a percentage of young loons returning to replace old, established adults that are lost from their territories.

We have made great progress in understanding the cause of the loon decline in the Upper Midwest. Recent findings suggest that many young adults received insufficient food as chicks, a pattern that is linked to lower survival and breeding success during adulthood. Since we have also recently learned that declining water clarity is, at least in part, responsible for poor feeding conditions, a picture is beginning to emerge of how and why the population in the Upper Midwest is declining. In short, loss of water clarity -- especially during the month of July, which is the critical period for growth of loon chicks -- is hindering adult loons' ability to feed their chicks. The resulting decline in chick body condition is causing lower survival of chicks in the short-term, but also lower survival of these chicks as they reach adulthood and seek to settle on territories of their own. 

The cause is not hopeless. We would not be spending months each year marking, observing, and measuring loons if we thought that nothing could be done. But we must learn soon the exact cause of declining water clarity, how we can reverse that decline, and -- thus -- how we can safeguard the quality of northern lakes for loons and humans alike.  

Where Your Support Goes

The funds we obtain from your donation will go to pay for six main expenses: 1) small monthly stipends ($2,000 a month) for our four student field assistants from May through August, 2) insurance for the students' work ($500 a month per student), 3) lodging for the field assistants and myself (about $7,000 a month), 4) travel costs for the team (about $1,500 a month), 5) upkeep and repair of our motorboat and canoes (about $800 a month), and 6) storage of our boats and supplies ($2000 annually).