WOW, Rick! That sounds like quite the territorial battle - definitely
interesting that both the male and female were involved in the fight to
maintain the territory, that's super unusual!
I thought I would share this really cool blog for those interested in learning
more about loons and loon behavior. It is run by Walter Piper, who has been
studying loons in Oneida and Lincoln counties since 1993. It's a really cool
project and the blog is a great place to learn more about how scientists think
about animal behavior, as well as just to learn more about loons in general!
Here it is: https://loonproject.org/
[https://wpiper1.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/screen-shot-2019-04-22-at-12.52.57-pm.png?w00]<https://loonproject.org/>
The Loon Project<https://loonproject.org/>
loonproject.org
Research on Territorial Behavior. The Loon Project is a scientific study that
focuses on territorial behavior, reproduction, and habitat selection of common
loons (Gavia immer) in northern Wisconsin.Since 1993, we have captured and
individually-marked adults and chicks on about 200 lakes.
Thanks for sharing, Rick!
KB
________________________________
From: wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf
of Rick Pertile <Mugzy1960@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 10, 2019 12:04:35 PM
To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [wisb] Loon- nest/territory takeover attempt Saywer County
Greetings~
I'll start by saying WOW and that I'm still in disbelief of all that I just
witnessed which I have no doubt was an attempt at a nest/territory takeover
with our resident loons.
About an hour ago, I was outside on our back deck enjoying a cup of coffee on
this beautiful cool morning. I had recently checked on the loon nest platform
with one egg that should be hatching the end of this week. All seemed fine at
about 7 a.m. Around 9:30 one of our loons starting screaming with the
territorial call I so often hear when another flies over in spring. Soon after
that, I heard splashing, lots of splashing. I grabbed my binoculars and could
see two loons paddling across the water in circles over and over. One would
occasionally dive and come up from underneath and in pursuit of what I knew had
to be an intruder. At this time there were only 2 loons interacting, one of
which I could see was our resident male (he has a prominent hook on the end of
his upper mandible). I watched for awhile as this continued with both birds
going out through the channel into the main part of the lake, only to return
shortly afterward and continuing with the chase. I went back ins
ide as it actually seemed to calm down slightly for a bit, grabbed more coffee
then out to the back deck again. I could hear more ruckus starting up front on
the lake side and it sounded even more aggressive this time so I got back up
and went out front again to see what was going on. This time there were 3
birds interacting quite aggressively, with our male chasing the intruder and
that bird actually attacking our resident female. With that being said, I
figured the intruder had to be another female and clearly more dominant or at
least more aggressive than our resident female from what I could see while this
was all taking place. I decided to walk down to the dock with my binoculars, I
SHOULD have brought my cell or camera but clearly had no idea what I was in for
once I got down there.
I've read that when an intruder male shows up, the resident male fights as the
female just sits by and watches, ultimately going with the winner. This is
also supposed to be the scenario when an intruder female shows up, the male
just sits by, watches and ends up with the winner. Apparently that is not
always the case as both resident birds were fighting with this bird.
The nest platform is about 100 feet to the right of our dock in the bay and
much of this aggression now was getting closer to this area. As much as the
male tried to drive off this female, she persisted in attacking our resident
female which I could see was being dominated and now backing down from the
fight. I couldn't believe what happened after that.
I was standing at the end of our dock by the shoreline not even 2 feet out on
the first section. The resident female was straight out from the dock and the
male was chasing the intruder female out further in the bay. The intruder
female made a straight shot for our resident female and attacked her. Our
resident bird started flapping across the water directly towards the dock. I
just stood there motionless as she got closer and being pursued by the intruder
which she clearly was trying to get away from. She actually came up to the
shoreline next to where I was standing on the dock and launched herself onto
the dock behind me literally hitting my ankle with one wing when doing so (I
couldn't make this up if I wanted to) and then pushed herself up on the second
landscape timber on the shoreline leading up to the cabin. The intruder made
an unsuccessful attempt to get on the dock and went back in the water and dove.
I remained motionless, looking at our resident loon not 4 feet fr
om me on shore just shaking/shivering and clearly completely exhausted. I
couldn't believe what I was seeing! She stayed there about 5 minutes while the
male again started to chase this bird in an attempt to drive it off. The male
finally chased the intruder out into the channel and main part of the lake and
returned alone. He and the resident female just floated next to each other by
the platform and rested. They occasionally splashed a bit as if bathing. Soon
afterward the female got up on the nest platform and immediately put her head
under her wing and started sleeping while she incubated.
As of right now, all is quiet but I guess time will tell what the future holds
for this nest and chick if the egg successfully hatches the end of this week.
I've seen some pretty amazing wildlife/bird scenarios in my decades of birding,
but this no doubt probably surpasses them all.
Rick Pertile
Edgewater township
Sawyer County
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