I knew then that we were going to have to limit our swimming activities with our dogs for a while because the raft was beside our swimming lane to the island. The incubation period for loon eggs is usually 26—30 days so I thought if I talked to the neighbors, we might be able to protect the nest until the eggs hatched.
It was quiet for the first week and most people gave the platform a wide berth but the traffic really increased during the next two weeks. The loon was constantly under stress as people were paddling too close or sometimes right up to the platform so she was off the nest a lot.
Loons do leave the nest for a day sometimes when they are laying their eggs. As soon as they start to incubate the eggs one of them is usually present to protect and keep the eggs warm. A week after the eggs should have hatched, I realized that the nest was probably going to be unsuccessful. The male finally quit coming to the nest but the female was an excellent parent and stayed on the nest for an additional three weeks. Unfortunately this was when we had that long stretch of hot weather and it was sad to see her panting while she was sitting in the hot sun all day.
Several times during the day she would take a short break to cool off, catch a quick meal but then climb right back up on the raft. She would carefully turn the eggs over each time and then settle down on them. None, but there is extensive subcutaneous vascularization in posterior abdominal region of both sexes during incubation JFB. Eggs are incubated beneath this region, and between feet, which may also contribute heat. You are commenting using your WordPress.
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Email Address:. Sign me up! Click to order my first book, a photographic guide for children entitled Milkweed Visitors. Blog at WordPress. This may help the chicks keep warm and protect them from predators. For the first 8 weeks or so, the young loons are fed by their parents.
Over the following weeks, they gradually learn to dive well enough to obtain their own food. By three months of age or sooner, they are able to fly and become independent of their parents. Birds Mammals Butterflies Garden Shop. Common Loon - Nesting and Breeding -. Territory Common Loons return to their breeding lakes as soon as the ice melts in the early spring. This means that although loons produce few chicks each year, they have the potential to produce many chicks over the course of their lifetime.
Because of this, the viability of our loon population relies heavily on adult loon survival. Courtesy of Brian Reilly. Loon Reproduction. Learn about Loon Chick Development.
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