A few days ago I was at Moose Lake State Park in Carlton County and saw three Common Loons swimming together. Suddenly one loon grabbed another by the throat and seemed to try to pull it under water repeatedly. The second loon was unable to shake the attacker from its throat and had its head forced underwater numerous times. They struggled violently for several minutes while the third loon was calling nearby. Both fighting loons disappeared under water for some minutes but eventually all three were swimming again in fairly close proximity to each other.
Could this be one male loon attacking another male rival and trying to drown it, and the calling loon was the contested female, or is there another explanation for this behavior? Floor Kooyman ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
