“Loons are so skittish. It’s important that neither the male nor the female sitting on the nest be frightened away. (Because) crows, cranes, raccoons, skunks and other birds and animals hang around waiting for the parent to leave the nest unattended,” Thoma said. “A loon’s egg is a fine feast for a predator,” added the wildlife biologist who has studied loons on Minnesota lakes all his adult life.

Loons are tremendous divers, according to Thoma, who said it’s impossible to tell male from female loon from afar--because one parent always stays on the nest while the other’s out diving for fish to eat. When boats get too close to a loon nest, Thoma added, the bird flys away, abandoning the eggs to predators.

Loons spend about seven months in Minnesota, McIntyre said, then fly to the Atlantic Coast where they winter offshore, feeding on fish. They arrive in Minnesota in April and May, with the thawing of the lakes, and leave in late September and October.

“Loons mate for life. They return to the same lakes each year. We know that by the yodel of the male, a different and distinct one from the other,” the ornithologist explained.