Environment | Page 2

C. C. Andrews, ca. 1843

C. C. Andrews, about fourteen years old, ca. 1843.

A migratory diver of the loon family, the common loon (Gavia immer) has been important to people living in the Great Lakes region for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Its striking calls and black-and-white summer plumage have made it an emblem of Minnesota, where more of the birds live than in any other state except Alaska. The loon became Minnesota’s state bird in 1961.

MN90: Minnesota’s State Bird

It isn’t a Minnesota summer without the sound of a loon coming off the lake. Producer Britt Aamodt wonders, “What are all those sounds the loon makes, and what do they mean?”

Minnesota Loon Restoration Project map

Map highlighting the eight counties where Minnesota’s Loon Restoration Project is taking place, 2024. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Loons with a perch

Two loons with a perch on Upper Hay Lake near Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. Photograph by Anita Ritenour, August 25, 2018. CC BY 2.0

Loon in the Boundary Waters

A loon in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness inside Minnesota. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user Albert Maruggi, January 15, 2018. CC BY 3.0