The heavy molt may explain its feeding behavior as well. I believe that loons use their wings to swim to great depths while fishing underwater, essentially flying through the water. Without the use of its strongest flight feathers, this underwater mobility would be impaired. Both times I observed the loon, it never dived but rather seemed to be hunting by dipping its head under the water, Continuing this train of thought, loons must then summer in shallow bodies of water that would permit this type of feeding behavior. Indeed, loons typically nest in shallow lakes in the boreal tundra where the adult birds can molt and survive without the deep-sea diving typical of their winter culinary preferences.
Nick Komar Fort Collins CO From: Marcel Such Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 7:59 AM To: cobirds Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [cobirds] Re: Pacific Loon MacIntosh Lake Still Present (Boulder County) On closer investigation of another view from our photos, you can see that all of the primary feathers are in molt. Thanks Mike for that suggestion. ~Marcel -- Marcel Such NW of Lyons, CO [email protected] suchboys.blogspot.com On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 1:44 AM, Mike Blatchley <[email protected]> wrote: Could this loon be in the middle of a late molt? Loons lose their ability to fly during molts, I believe up to 4-6 weeks. mike On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 5:36 PM, rostrhamus wrote: Marcel Such mentioned observing that this bird is missing a significant number of flight feathers or something to that effect, so its future is uncertain at this time. Updates on the status of this bird are appreciated. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to mailto:cobirds%[email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
