Common Loons, birds emblematic of the Quetico-Superior region, could face survival problems due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Many of the loons that nest on Minnesota and Ontario lakes in summer, winter along the Gulf Coast.
Minnesota Public Radio has an interview with Minnesota Department of Natural Resources bird expert Caroll Henderson on the matter, HERE.
Henderson notes that young loons will spend a full year in their wintering locale after hatching in Minnesota, exposing those who winter along the Gulf to the problems caused by the oil spewing from the Deepwater Horizon well.
Some of Minnesota’s loon population winter on the Atlantic Coast.