That's Amazing! Animal of the Week: the Diver or Loon

In giving the name Loonwatch to my intended occasional series highlighting dodgy campaigns, organisations and websites, especially those that manage to work their way into mainstream news sources, I didn't realise that Loon is the American name for the diver, a group of aquatic birds, or that there are a number of programmes and blogs dedicated to watching them. Sorry! If anyone can think of a better name, do let me know.

The Common Loon is the provincial bird of Ontario and is depicted on the Canadian one-dollar coin, which has come to be known affectionately as the "loonie".Wikipedia

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Air and water pollution, shoreline development, and increasing recreational activities on lakes all pose serious threats to loons in North America, and in some cases are responsible for loons and loon music disappearing from traditional nesting lakes.Sigurd Olsen Environmental Institute

Here are your facts, anyway:

• The name comes from its haunting, yodelling, cry.
• They swallow small pebbles to help their gizzard digest hard food such as crustacian exoskeletons and salamander bones.
• They are considered one of the most primitive birds, having kept their current form for one million years.

Sources: Wikipedia, SOEI. Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service, via Wikipedia.