Hello all you loon lovers. I thought I would show you a pictorial demonstrating the phenology of one of our Little Sebago chicks. Below you will see the week-by-week growth and changes of “Sandy”. Sandy hatched on July 4th on Sand Island here in the northwestern bay of the Middle Lake. Sandy is one of five chicks hatched on Little Sebago in the Summer of 2020. Two, including Sandy’s sibling, did not survive past their first days.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Photographer, Bruce Small, for providing these outstanding pictures and chronicling Sandy’s grown over her first three months.
Week 1 – Photos at three days old
Just a little ball of fluff. Newly hatched loon chicks are downy black fluff balls that weigh roughly a quarter of a pound. They can swim right away, and will try to dive, though they have trouble staying underwater for very long. They’ll feed themselves insects and other small water bugs, but will rely on their parents for most of their food. For the first two weeks they’ll also spend a lot of time riding on their parent’s backs, sometimes partially or completely hidden under a wing.
Week 2 – Amazing Growth in Just 10 Days.
Week 3 – July 22, 2020. Photo at 3 weeks. Still in downy plumage. By the end of their second week of life, chicks gain about seven times their body weight. Overall, chick survival is very low in the first few weeks. In fact, in Maine, chicks have only a 25% chance of surviving the summer.
Week 4 – July 28, 2020. Photo’s at just shy of 1 month. Notice the elongation of beak and wings.
Week 5 – August 3, 2020 – 1 month+ old. Starting to see some shedding of down around her head. Feathers start to replace the downy fluff at about four/five weeks of age.
Week 6 – August 10, 2020. Really noticeable plumage change on wings now.
Week 7 – August 17, 2020. Much more distinct pattern on wings and chest. by eight weeks almost all the adult feathers have grown in. If loon chicks make it to this age, they have a very good chance of surviving to adulthood.
Week 8 – August 24, 2020. Still looking a little ruff but flight feathers nearly complete.
Week 9 – August 31, 2020. Almost 2 months old and looking all grown up already.
Week 10 – Sept 14,2020. Nearing adult size and otherwise fully developed.
Week 11 – Sept 25, 2020 Sandy is now twelve weeks old. Parents usually stay with their chicks and feed them for about three months. Chicks continue to beg for food from their parents, long after they are big enough to catch fish on their own, generally as long as their parents stick around. Young loons start to fly at about 11-12 weeks, becoming fully capable fliers within a week. At this point, they have also reached full adult size. Even though they can fly, they tend to stay put on the lake where they hatched, filling up on fish and resting until the late fall flight to the ocean. Note that Dad has begun his winter molt around the head.
Hope you enjoy Bruce’s photography and this brief lesson about loon phenology.
Sharon Young Coordinator
Little Sebago Loon Monitoring and Conservation.