The tremolo, the hoot, the wail, the yodel—some say that loon calls are among the best sounds in nature. One thing is for sure: People in Maine love “their” loons! Year after year, they get up early in mid July and head out, no matter what the weather, to take part in the Maine Audubon Annual Loon Count to help contribute to the information we have about these charismatic birds.
Maine Audubon’s annual loon count will take place this year from 7 to 7:30 am on Saturday, July 19. As has happened on the third Saturday of July since 1984, dedicated volunteers will head out to search on lakes and ponds all across the state to count Common Loons. Right now, volunteer regional coordinators are busy assigning people to lakes and conducting outreach. After the count, they will compile and check data, and tally numbers, from Aroostook to York. All told, volunteers look for loons in every one of Maine’s 16 counties!
Maine Audubon uses the statewide snapshot to estimate the annual population and track population trends. The information helps biologists, state officials, and Maine lake users understand more about the loons’ status and the health of Maine lakes. The data is also used to determine how to reduce loon disturbance and mortality.
Last year, 1,624 volunteers headed out to 407 lakes to gather data that allows Maine Audubon to calculate a population estimate for southern Maine and keep an eye on trends over time. In 2024, we used the data to estimate a population of 3,146 adults and 420 chicks for the southern half of the state. In comparison, in 1983, we estimated a population of 1,417 adult loons and 176 loon chicks in the southern half of Maine, suggesting a doubling since the initial year of the loon count.
Unfortunately, there are not enough lakes surveyed north of this line to estimate the population for the entire state. So this year, in an effort to expand the reach, involve more people in the Loon Count, and gain a better understanding of where loons are and what they’re doing in the northern part of the state, Maine Audubon has introduced Extended Duration Surveys. This is a pilot program for select remote and unsurveyed lakes, and volunteers are coming from as far away as Colorado to participate in the survey. Between July 19 and 26, these community science volunteers will scout, access, and conduct a one-hour survey of their assigned lake. So far, 15 counters have volunteered to survey 23 lakes for the extended loon count. In addition, volunteer pilots from LightHawk will be flying over northern Maine lakes along with a Maine Audubon biologist to count adults and chicks on 100 representative lakes to estimate the population in the northern half of the state and compare that to the last time these lakes were surveyed by air in 2009.
Maine has the largest population of loons in the eastern United States, which makes the breeding success of loons here critical to the population at large. Loons face many threats, both natural and manmade. Trauma, especially from boat strikes (when a boat collides with a loon), is a leading cause of adult loon deaths in Maine, as is lead poisoning from ingesting lost and discarded lead tackle.
Loon counters also continue to report loon nests being flooded and eggs washing out of the nest by boat wakes. Most loons nest within a foot of the water’s edge, so they are especially vulnerable to washout from large waves. All motor boats on Maine lakes are required to travel at no-wake speeds when they are within 200 feet of shore or islands. Boats that facilitate wake surfing create even larger waves and can impact loon nests even when operating as far as 500-600 feet offshore. Last year, a law (LD 2284) was implemented specifically to address wakesurfing activity. It states that a person is prohibited “from operating a motorboat in less than 15 feet of water or within 300 feet of the shoreline when the motorboat is engaged in a wakesurfing activity.”
More information, including a Your Loon Questions Answered document, a guide to Loon Stress Behaviors called “How Close is too Close” and Maine Audubon’s “Living in Loon Territory” brochure, is available at maineaudubon.org/loons.
For more information about the annual count or the Maine Loon Project, or to volunteer, contact conserve@maineaudubon.org.
