CC/PAUL VANDERWERF
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont saw a record year for nesting loons in 2019, with the 101 pairs being the most since the state began tracking loons in 1978, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife said Wednesday.
Seventy-five of the pairs produced 115 chicks, said Eric Hanson of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, which has been working with the state on loon recovery. Of those chicks, 87 survived through August, ahead of the five-year survival average of 73 percent, he said.
“Vermont’s loon project is a tremendous success story, with only seven nesting pairs producing nine chicks in 1983 growing to more than 100 nesting pairs this year,” Fish and Wildlife’s bird biologist Doug Morin said in a statement released by the department.
Loons, known for their eerie calls, were removed from Vermont’s endangered species list in 2005 following decades of recovery efforts. Biologists say one of the main threats still facing loons as they continue to recover is human disturbance during the breeding season.
Morin said that many lakes where loons nest are surrounded by signs asking people to give them space.
Morin is also asking people to avoid lead fishing tackle. Loons sometimes swallow stray fishing tackle and suffer the effects of lead poisoning.
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