Many thanks to Tony Leukering for setting the record straight on underwater wing-powered locomotion (or rather, lack thereof) among loons, and also for sharing his vast wealth of ornithological knowledge with our Colorado birding community, making us all wealthier (in knowledge, anyway). I should have done some basic research before sticking my foot in my mouth in a public forum like Cobirds. I have now done the appropriate homework to learn more about underwater locomotion among diving birds. A number of bird taxa including alcids, diving petrels, some shearwaters, and our Rocky Mountain dippers use their wings to power underwater diving as well as aerial flight, but not loons. Interestingly, I learned that some of these species undergo very heavy wing molt and yet still dive during these periods of wing molt. So, it begs the question (maybe Tony can answer this as well), why is the Boulder Pacific Loon not diving as would be typical foraging behavior for this species.
Thanks again, Tony! Nick Komar Fort Collins CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
