Loons are waterfowl, which are slightly smaller in size than the common goose. The peculiarity lies in the fact that their paws are completely unadapted to movement on the ground. Getting ashore, the bird is forced to practically crawl on its belly on the surface, but there are almost no traces of this method of movement. Therefore, the whole life of loons takes place on the water - mating games, food, sleep and rest. There are several types of loons - red-throated, white-necked, white-billed, but the most common of these is black-throated.
Black-throated Loon
The appearance of males and females is almost the same - the abdomen is covered with white feathers, and on top - grayish-brown or black plumage with white glimpses. You can distinguish individuals by the neck pattern - each one has an individual one.
The pattern is not visible only during the wintering period, when the entire color of the bird turns into a more monotonous one. Loons differ from geese and ducks in their flight style - they stoop slightly and bend their neck down. The wings of birds are relatively small, against the span of the same ducks, while the legs protrude backward - they are often confused with the tail. The three front fingers of the bird are connected by a membrane. The black-throated loon has a sonorous voice - in its play you can hear screams and groans. In the black-throated individual, the cry is more like the croaking of a crow. Unfortunately, the loon is at the stage of extinction, so the only chance to save the species is the Red Book. The sounds of the black-throated loon in the mating season sound like “ga-ga-ga-rrah”, which gave her such a name.
Habitat
It should be noted right away that it is inappropriate to confuse a loon with an eider. Despite the fact that the names of birds are very similar, they belong to different orders. Yes, and birds were hunted for completely different needs - eiders were valued for their fluff, and loons were valuable "loon necks" for ladies' hats.
The bird weighs about three kilograms, and the length of its paws is also striking - at least 10.5 centimeters. The European black-throated diver settles on large lakes, and is attached to the habitat for many years. A bird's nest most often looks like this - a trodden platform at the very edge of the water. Sometimes the loon lays her eggs in a pile of dead vegetation, which she first lays out on an area about half a meter wide. But on condition that the nest is located in close proximity to the water - so that you do not have to get to it by land.
Descendants of loons
There are never too many eggs in a bird's clutch - usually one or two. The color of the eggs camouflages them well from predators - olive-browneggs practically merge with coastal vegetation. They reach almost ten centimeters in length, and each of them stretches by about 105 grams in weight.
It is by the laying that you can determine whose nest it is - a red-throated or black-throated loon. The first egg is much smaller. Both partners incubate the masonry - they replace each other, letting their soul mate rest on the water, sleep and eat. The hatching period lasts about a month - the chick can hatch both after 25 days and after 30. The babies remain in the nest for a record short time - no more than two days. Then the adults begin to accustom the chicks to the water. The first exit looks like this - the chicks climb onto the back of an adult bird and descend into the water like that. Very soon you can watch how the kids swim independently between the two parents. Carefully sheltering them from possible misfortunes.
Lifestyle
Loons are excellent swimmers. It costs nothing for a bird to dive to a depth of 21 meters, while remaining under water for about two minutes. At the same time, the bird folds its wings on its back, and covering feathers protect them from getting wet. The black-throated loon accelerates against the wind for a long time before breaking off the surface of the water. The life expectancy of a bird is about 20 years. The principle of swan fidelity also applies here - having come together once in a lifetime, couples do not break up until death. Birds go to warm seas for the winter. Individuals of the first year of life also remain there. In spring, loons fly back, but very late,when the water is already clear.
Interesting changes happen to birds in winter. In the midst of frosty days, the loons begin to lose their fly feathers, which deprives them of the ability to fly for at least 1.5 months.
Loon hunting
The black-throated loon is of particular value to humans. The peoples of the Far North use poultry meat for food, moreover, it is not difficult to catch a loon. Often the birds themselves get entangled in fishing nets, from where it is not difficult to get them. Once upon a time, local tailors sewed exclusive ladies' hats from loon skins (white belly and breast), but today this craft is no longer relevant. The black-throated loon does not like the proximity of people - the bird dies from the dirt left after people, often hunting for it for fun begins. Therefore, in some countries there is even a loon festival. When the birds arrive from the warm seas, people meet them, provide them with a snack and organize normal conditions for rest. We learned what a black-throated loon looks like. A brief description will make it clear how you can distinguish it afloat, for example, from an ordinary duck.
Loon on the water
When a bird swims, only a low-browed head, a small part of the back and a slightly arched neck are visible on the surface - the landing of this bird is quite low. If the bird becomes anxious, it plunges even deeper into the water, eventually leaving only the head and a small part of the neck above the water surface.
When frightened, she simply dives under the water, waiting there for quite a long time until the danger has passed. The black-throated loon easily moves under water - like a cork released in one minute, it can cover a distance of 500 meters. This saves her from numerous hunters who confuse the bird with a duck and wait for it to emerge in the same place.
A little more about the black-throated loon
Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer individuals of this species. Lakes dry up, nature is littered by human hands - all this contributes to the fact that birds have to look for new habitats, and this is a constant risk to which the black-throated loon is exposed. The Red Book prohibits the hunting of these [birds], but this does not stop people much. According to the latest data, the number of birds has decreased many times, in some areas they have disappeared forever. Nowadays, black-throated loons can be found quite rarely - the bird tries to settle in remote areas, away from human sight, mainly on large forest lakes. For example, in the Krasnodar Territory, this bird is on a special record - there are about 500 individuals here, which is a record low number for the most common species of loons.
