Celebrating the Migratory Bird Treaty Centennial
The common loon is extremely popular with Michigan bird watchers.
Fall 2015
This year marks the centennial of the Convention between the United States and Great Britain (for Canada) for the Protection of Migratory Birds (also called the Migratory Bird Treaty) signed on August 16, 1916. Three other treaties were signed shortly thereafter with Japan, Russia, and Mexico. The Migratory Bird Treaty, the other three treaties signed later, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act form the backbone of efforts to conserve birds that migrate across international borders.
Various agencies and conservation groups have been celebrating the centennial with events and programs for bird enthusiasts. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has also featured a migratory bird of the month, highlighting some of the species that breed in our state. The selection for August was the common loon, a species that nests in the northern U.S. and Canada and spends the winter as far south as Mexico. The loon faces threats all along its migratory routes and thus can benefit from international protection efforts by government agencies.
In Michigan, the common loon has also been helped by a host of projects conducted over the years by private-sector groups. The Michigan Loon Preservation Association was started in 1987, the same year the loon was placed on the threatened species list, and has promoted and coordinated monitoring efforts. Other groups, including the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, have done habitat resto
ration work to aid the loon. The MWC’s projects have included water level restorations in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service at sites such as Olga Lake near Cadillac and Sprinkler Lake in Alcona County.
It is a special summer treat to observe a common loon in northern Michigan. The stunning black and white plumage of the adults and their haunting calls are unforgettable. In late March or April, common loons return to Michigan from their wintering grounds along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Most remain in our state only until October, but some overwinter if large lakes remain open.
Common loons are excellent divers with legs placed far back on their bodies. This makes it difficult for them to walk on land, but swift in the water. They are able to dive more than 200 feet and can remain submerged for up to five minutes. Loons feed mainly on fish, frogs, crayfish, leeches, and aquatic insects.
They build their nests atop muskrats lodges, on small islands, or peninsulas. Common loons usually lay one to three spotted, olive-colored eggs that are incubated for three to four weeks. Both parents share in nest-building, incubating, and rearing of the young. The hatchlings grow quickly, and within six weeks are nearly the same size as their parents. Bald eagles and mute swans will occasionally kill both young and adult loons, and some nests are lost to raccoons, gulls, crows, and other predators. Boat wakes and other disturbances can also cause loons to desert nests.
Common loons have always occurred in Michigan
and once bred in every county. However, breeding loons became scarce in Southern Michigan by the 1920s. In the early 1980s, there were only about 200 pairs in the state. Most biologists think loons suffered from accumulation of pesticides, mercury and other toxins that caused thinning of egg shells
or direct mortality of chicks, and increases in raccoon and herring gull populations likely resulted loss of loon nests. Current estimates of nesting loons in Michigan range from 500 to 775 pairs.
While our citizens focus much attention on nesting loons in our inland lakes, Michigan is also important for providing feeding and resting areas for loons that breed in Canada and migrate to oceanic wintering grounds. Migrating loons face an array of hazards that include commercial fishing nets, oil spills, and even botulism, a disease that also effects gulls and other waterbirds. International protection—what the Migratory Bird Treat was designed to provide—is important to the species’ long-term survival.
For more information about the Treaty Centennial visit www.fws.gov/birds/MBTreaty100.
This year marks the centennial of the Convention between the United States and Great Britain (for Canada) for the Protection of Migratory Birds (also called the Migratory Bird Treaty) signed on August 16, 1916. Three other treaties were signed shortly thereafter with Japan, Russia, and Mexico. The Migratory Bird Treaty, the other three treaties signed later, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act form the backbone of efforts to conserve birds that migrate across international borders.
Various agencies and conservation groups have been celebrating the centennial with events and programs for bird enthusiasts. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has also featured a migratory bird of the month, highlighting some of the species that breed in our state. The selection for August was the common loon, a species that nests in the northern U.S. and Canada and spends the winter as far south as Mexico. The loon faces threats all along its migratory routes and thus can benefit from international protection efforts by government agencies.
In Michigan, the common loon has also been helped by a host of projects conducted over the years by private-sector groups. The Michigan Loon Preservation Association was started in 1987, the same year the loon was placed on the threatened species list, and has promoted and coordinated monitoring efforts. Other groups, including the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, have done habitat resto
ration work to aid the loon. The MWC’s projects have included water level restorations in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service at sites such as Olga Lake near Cadillac and Sprinkler Lake in Alcona County.
It is a special summer treat to observe a common loon in northern Michigan. The stunning black and white plumage of the adults and their haunting calls are unforgettable. In late March or April, common loons return to Michigan from their wintering grounds along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Most remain in our state only until October, but some overwinter if large lakes remain open.
Common loons are excellent divers with legs placed far back on their bodies. This makes it difficult for them to walk on land, but swift in the water. They are able to dive more than 200 feet and can remain submerged for up to five minutes. Loons feed mainly on fish, frogs, crayfish, leeches, and aquatic insects.
They build their nests atop muskrats lodges, on small islands, or peninsulas. Common loons usually lay one to three spotted, olive-colored eggs that are incubated for three to four weeks. Both parents share in nest-building, incubating, and rearing of the young. The hatchlings grow quickly, and within six weeks are nearly the same size as their parents. Bald eagles and mute swans will occasionally kill both young and adult loons, and some nests are lost to raccoons, gulls, crows, and other predators. Boat wakes and other disturbances can also cause loons to desert nests.
Common loons have always occurred in Michigan
and once bred in every county. However, breeding loons became scarce in Southern Michigan by the 1920s. In the early 1980s, there were only about 200 pairs in the state. Most biologists think loons suffered from accumulation of pesticides, mercury and other toxins that caused thinning of egg shells
or direct mortality of chicks, and increases in raccoon and herring gull populations likely resulted loss of loon nests. Current estimates of nesting loons in Michigan range from 500 to 775 pairs.
While our citizens focus much attention on nesting loons in our inland lakes, Michigan is also important for providing feeding and resting areas for loons that breed in Canada and migrate to oceanic wintering grounds. Migrating loons face an array of hazards that include commercial fishing nets, oil spills, and even botulism, a disease that also effects gulls and other waterbirds. International protection—what the Migratory Bird Treat was designed to provide—is important to the species’ long-term survival.
For more information about the Treaty Centennial visit www.fws.gov/birds/MBTreaty100.