The loon is something most Canadians know as a national symbol, either from its presence on the loonie or its recognizable call. However, new research is showing what experts describe as a worrying decline. Canada is home to 94 per cent of common loons’ breeding pairs. But research has shown that there has been a decrease of around 40 per cent across 10 out of 12 regions analyzed, showing long-term trouble for the iconic bird. “It’s essentially evidence that shows that the number of offspring that reached adulthood each year is declining by around 1.5 per cent each year,” said Dr. Matthew Fuirst of Birds Canada. “But when you look at those percentages over decades, it becomes an average of a decline in productivity of about 40 per cent when you merge all of the regions together.” Between 1981 and 2023, Ontario alone has seen a common loon decline of 45 per cent. Climate Change is a factor, but Fuirst said one of the primary drivers behind the problem is the presence of lead in the loon ecosystem. Avoid using lead tackle “People can avoid the use of lead tackle when fishing, which is the primary cause of mortality for adult loons,” he said. “Property owners along lakeshores should maintain native vegetation and prevent erosion, because those two things can influence the quality of the lake water, as well as habitat that’s available for the birds.” Ornithologists are asking members of the public to take steps to help repair the population, something Sudbury residents have seen before with past pollution challenges. “When the lakes were very contaminated with acid and metals, we didn’t have any successful loon populations because they depend on a healthy fish population,” said Dr. John Gunn of Laurentian University. “And it was wonderful to see when loons finally were able to come back to Sudbury and reproduce.” Fuirst said they are hoping Canadians will take tangible action to help the loon population through lake stewardship, and they are now pursuing a research project to use satellite imagery of the lakes in Canada and the U.S. to look at the clarity of lakes.
