A Look at Loon Banding Week
Last week was the best week of the year - at least in the opinions of our research biologists.
Between July 31 - August 7, many of our Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation (ACLC) staff were out in the field for loon banding week. Banding week is held during the new moon at the end of July or August, when skies are darkest and most loon chicks are at least several weeks old. During banding week, ACLC research biologists Dr. Nina Schoch and Griffin Archambault coordinate teams of staff, interns, volunteers and professional partners from Calvin College and the Zoological Health Program and Ornithology Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society to locate and capture loons. For each safely captured loon, blood and feather samples are collected, physical measurements are taken, and colorful metal bands are attached to their legs that will allow researchers to identify individual birds over the course of their lives.
Members of the loon banding team prepare to launch their boat for the first time on observation night #2 outside of Saranac Lake.
Using the spotlight to scan the lake for loons.
It’s a tiring schedule. Loon banding takes place at night so that biologists in boats can use a spotlight to see the loons and to momentarily blind them, meaning that work doesn’t begin until well after the sun sets and doesn’t end until dawn. Researchers direct the light into the loon’s eyes, then play loon calls through a speaker - chick distress calls to lure in adults, adult calls to lure in chicks. Confused, the loons go towards the sounds and, unknowingly, towards the boat, where they can be safely netted and brought onboard. If the lake is a big one and researchers are using motorized boats, they can assess and band the bird right there on the water. If they are using smaller boats like canoes, they take the loon to shore where a team is waiting to examine them, collect samples, and add bands to their legs before releasing them again.
Dr. Nina Schoch organizes the bands that are attached to loons’ legs to individually identify them.
Dr. Schoch loves banding week because of what it promises for the future. “I love being able to follow the birds year to year. There are the ones we have banded as juveniles and are now 23, 24 years old,” she said. “Also, seeing the birds in the light approaching the boat is magical.”
Griffin agrees: “The samples provide us insight into the health of these birds and our ecosystems, and the bands provide us insight into their life history and population dynamics. [And it’s] great because we get to be up close and personal with our study species.”
Each year, Dr. Schoch and Griffin identify regions of the park where they hope to capture currently unbanded loons. This year, they focused on lakes around Old Forge and Saranac Lake, often visiting more than one lake per night. During the day, while the banding teams are sleeping, day-time volunteers scout the lakes to report loon sightings, helping the teams decide which lakes to visit first.
During observation nights, invited guests can participate by holding a loon while researchers collect samples and measurements.
Observers help release a loon after it has been sampled, measured and banded.
Only juvenile loons with full juvenile plumage and large enough legs to hold an adult-sized band are banded. They are generally easier to calm than adults.
Blood and feather samples can be tested for the presence of diseases and environmental pollutants like mercury and PFAS (forever chemicals).
Donors and invited guests watch research biologists at work during an observation night.
Currently, there are over 500 banded loons in the Adirondack Park that have been banded since 1998. The bands create a unique identification for each loon. They are visible from a distance when using binoculars or a long lens on a camera, allowing researchers and seasonal field staff to collect observational data about individual loon’s behavior, breeding and nesting success, and general health year to year. Only adult loons are banded, or juveniles with full juvenile plumage and legs large enough to hold adult-sized bands.
A white band with a black stripe is gently applied to an adult loon’s leg. In total, banded loons have three colored bands and one metal band, with two bands on each leg.
This year, 13 loons were banded, including four juveniles. Banding a juvenile loon is exciting because it offers a chance to study the bird for the full 30 - 40 years of its life expectancy if researchers (and the loons) are lucky. Blood and feather samples from 18 total loons were collected, including five chicks too young to be banded. The team visited 11 lakes and captured loons on nine of them.
ACLC intern Heather Armstrong holds a juvenile loon while research biologist Griffin Archambault takes measurements.
The samples and data collected during banding week is shared widely among institutions. Blood and feather samples are shared with SUNY ESF and Clarkson University’s immunology department to measure mercury and PFAS, or forever chemicals, in Adirondack watersheds. Basic health data is shared with the Wildlife Conservation Society, and results of avian malaria tests are shared with Dr. Ellen Martinsen at the University of Vermont.
On two different nights during this year’s banding week, ACLC donors and special guests were invited to be on shore while captured loons were brought in for samples and banding. The experience offered a chance to see a loon up close, and to see researchers at work. When possible, guests were invited to help hold the captured loon while researchers collected measurements and samples. Lucky loon-holders were instructed about how to safely tuck the loon’s head under the holder’s elbow and then securely hold the body in their laps. ACLC intern Heather Armstrong was chosen to hold a juvenile loon during the second observation night. “It’s like holding a football that really wants to bite you!” she said.
By the end of the week, tired researchers are eager to get back to a daytime schedule. Dr. Schoch considered this year’s efforts a total success. “It was the smoothest loon banding has ever gone,” she said. “People worked really well together and we laughed a lot!”
A released loon illuminated by headlamps takes a moment to get its bearings before swimming off into the darkness.
Special thanks to the staff, volunteers, interns and professional colleagues who participated in this year’s banding week, including Dr. Keith Grasman, biology professor at Calvin College and his students Braden DeWeerd, Christy Martin and Abby Vanden Hueval; Dr. Catherine Bartholf, resident veterinarian for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Zoological Health Program and vet tech Olivia Berkner; and Ken Huth, of the ornithology department at the Bronx Zoo with the Wildlife Conservation Society and staff member Gabby Rosato.
Words & Images by Denise Silfee, ACLC Education & Communications Director