The Maine Loon Restoration Project began in 2021 as a five-year project that aimed to give Maine loons better chances for breeding success and reduce threats to their survival. The five-year grant ended in 2025, so 2026 was a transition year that has us now working in these main areas: loon nesting rafts and nest warning signs, a loon pair monitoring program, outreach through the Look out for Loons program, and the Fish Lead Free initiative. Here’s a recap of this season’s activities in those areas.
Above photo: Peter Daigle, used by permission
2026 Raft Results
Highlights
• 81 Project rafts were launched on 73 lakes and ponds
• Loon pairs nested on one third of these rafts (32%) and hatched 28 chicks (on average 1.08 chicks hatched from each raft nest).
• Productivity for raft nesting pairs was 0.5 surviving chicks per pair (exceeding the 0.48 target)
• 14 chicks (half the number hatched from rafts) emerged from 25 natural nests in territories where rafts were present but went unused
Maine Audubon Wildlife Ecologist Tracy Hart continued to provide informational webinars, as well as remote support and supplies for those managing rafts and nest warning signs and monitoring loon breeding outcomes. On-site support was not available to participants this year from Maine Audubon staff or our partners.
The 200 people involved in raft management this season adapted to these changes and pivoted—with a strong spirit of collaboration! Many who had been involved for multiple years carried on as they have in years past, launching their rafts with other lake residents and reporting the outcomes on the online survey form. Some, like Carole Dembek, Mike Abell, and Pete and Tina Streker stepped up to offer additional support to those managing rafts or monitoring loons in their local areas. Others tapped resources available on the Maine Audubon Loon Restoration webpage, sought help from folks on the shared contact list or Facebook group, or consulted the new raft maintenance guides. Some went to their local lake association to ask that the raft be formally adopted by the association to ensure the raft’s continuation in years to come.
Raft Hatching Success
As a result of this dedication, 73 lakes and ponds continued to host 81 project rafts this season, providing floating platforms for loon pairs whose nests have been frequently plagued by flooding, lost nesting sites, or terrestrial predators and repeatedly failed to hatch chicks from onshore nests. Their efforts paid off with 28 chicks hatching from the 26 rafts that were used for nesting in 2026! (In comparison, 30 chicks hatched from 26 of the 96 rafts that were launched last year). So while fewer rafts were launched this season, nearly as many chicks hatched from rafts this year as in 2025.
This is exciting but not unexpected, as we anticipate a higher percentage of rafts to be used each season as more pairs gain trust in the rafts and initiate nesting there. It generally takes 3-6 years for loons to start using a nesting raft, and some organizations have reported loons using a raft for the first time after 10 years! Loon pairs nested on a third of the rafts made available this season, up from 27% in 2025.
Interestingly, more nesting pairs overincubated eggs this season as compared to past years. These pairs continued to sit on the nest well past the normal incubation period on eggs that were unviable. It’s uncertain why more nests contained inviable eggs this season, but most likely the early heat wave caused loons to get off their nests to cool off leaving their eggs exposed to higher heat than they could withstand.
Echoing previous years, loon pairs that nested onshore with natural nests (instead of on the rafts in their territories) saw lower nesting success. Fourteen chicks (or half the number hatched from rafts) emerged from 24 natural nests in territories where rafts were present but went unused. Also similar to past seasons, some pairs within raft territories made no attempts at nesting. Twenty-eight pairs within raft territories (or 35%) made no nesting attempts that participants are aware of, down from 48% last year.
While we’re all excited to see these pairs hatching more young, it’s important to remember that the pairs selected for nesting rafts are ones that have usually failed to hatch chicks. So, the higher success seen by raft nesters simply means that these platforms are working to address nesting hurdles that these loon pairs traditionally face. Those that didn’t elect to use the rafts continued to face the same impediments to nesting, so it’s not surprising that they hatched fewer chicks. For pairs that are able to produce chicks naturally, rafts should not be introduced; they introduce risks that could actually lower a productive pair’s chances of hatching chicks successfully. Rafts also create a situation where a wild species’ productivity is dependent on human management.
And on a fun note, 106 chicks have now hatched from project rafts since the project began in 2021, mostly from pairs that hadn’t hatched chicks in many years!
Raft Productivity and Chick Survival
And how did these chicks fare out in the world on their lakes and ponds? Thirteen raft-hatched chicks survived to at least 6 weeks—an age when they are deemed likely to fledge. This translates into 0.5 chicks surviving per raft nesting pair, just above the target deemed necessary to sustain the population (0.48 chicks fledging per pair annually). Again this season, raft nesting pairs experienced higher productivity than those pairs within raft territories that nested onshore.
Challenges
While there’s a lot of good news, the transition wasn’t without challenges. For a wide variety of reasons (lost gear, life events, scheduling conflicts, difficulty with maintenance and more), fifteen rafts were not launched this season. Eight rafts coordinated by our partners at the Lakes Environmental Association were discontinued this season after funding for the work ended. In two cases, rafts were discontinued in 2026 after the pairs saw nesting success on natural nests for multiple years meaning the loons seem to have overcome the issues that had hindered past nesting success. We know that raft maintenance is no easy task, so on behalf of Maine Audubon and our partners, we want to thank all of those who have managed or provided help with a nesting platform this year or in past years!
Nest Warning Signs
We’re still collecting final reports from everyone who manages nest warning signs, but to date we’re aware of 59 nest warning signs that were placed at 33 at-risk nesting sites in 2026, and 25 chicks hatched at these sites.
Nineteen of these signs were placed in sign-only territories (territories with nest warning signs, but no raft). Nine chicks hatched from 14 territories that were protected only by nest warning signs (0.64 chicks hatched per sign-only territory)
Fourty-one signs were placed at 19 sites which also had nesting rafts. In these locations, 16 chicks hatched (0.84 chicks hatched per territory that contained signs and a raft). The addition of signs has equated to a 7-fold increase in the number of chicks hatched by these pairs in comparison with their hatch rates before signs were placed.
Loon Pair Monitoring
We provide participants in the Loon Restoration Project with training and encouragement to track nesting outcomes for any breeding pair that they observe, whether or not a raft or nest warning sign is present. This allows us to gain a wider perspective on loon breeding pair nesting outcomes and chick survival throughout the state and provides a comparison to breeding territories where rafts and nest warning signs are placed.
A total of 300 participants participated in pair monitoring this season. Collectively they surveyed 168 loon breeding pairs on 116 lakes and ponds. 95 chicks hatched from nests within these territories and 55 of these chicks survived.
The average hatching rate of all pairs monitored this season is lower than those within territories with signs or nesting rafts. Pairs in raft and sign territories are selected for management activities either because they have failed to hatch chicks for multiple years or they are at risk of nest failure from high human disturbance. We are hopeful that the higher number of chicks hatched per pair in raft and sign territories this season attests to the benefits of these two management tools for pairs that face challenges to nesting success.
Look Out for Loons
Mady Eori, Maine Audubon’s Community Science Coordinator, took over James Reddoch’s role in supporting those involved in loon outreach efforts as part of the Look Out for Loons Program. This outreach program is designed to train people to be ambassadors who go into the community to spread the word about how we can all help to reduce threats to loon nesting and survival. These volunteers spread the word about how to reduce disturbances at nest sites, encourage boaters to slow down around loons to reduce boat strikes, and promote lead-free fishing. This summer, approximately 100 volunteers reached around 2,300 members of the public at various talks and tabling events at lake association meetings, fairs, festivals, and farmers markets, at boat ramps for courtesy boat inspections, and library and community center talks.
Fish Lead Free
Maine Audubon has been educating anglers and helping them switch to lead-free tackle alternatives for many years and that effort has continued through this project. Since 2020, we have removed and recycled 784 pounds of lead tackle through tabling at sportsmen shows, getting communities to host lead tackle collection bins, and spreading the word about lead-free alternatives and state’s new lead tackle laws. Every piece of lead tackle recycled is one less piece that could kill a loon from lead poisoning.
This year, Maine wildlife biologist Laura Williams hosted tables at the Eastern Maine Sportsmen’s Show in Orono, where eight trade-ins brought in a total of 4.56 pounds of lead, and at the State of Maine Sportsman’s Show in Augusta, where 36 trade-ins amounted to a total of 90.5 lbs collected. All in all, we collected thousands of pieces of lead tackle totalling 95.06 pounds at the two shows.
If you still have lead tackle in your tackle box, drop it off at Maine Audubon and we will recycle it for you. You can drop lead tackle off at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth, Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden, or Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife offices around the state.
Thank you, volunteers!
In 2026, volunteers contributed just over 2800 hours to the raft, sign, and breeding pair monitoring programs, and 450 volunteers have participated in the raft, sign, and breeding pair monitoring programs since 2021! Fifty-four joined just this year while others have been part of the project since the outset! Some joined for several years and then life took them in other directions. In total, from 2021-2026, participants donated more than 9,500 hours to the project. We’re so grateful for their generous contributions to loons!
