Re: Dead Common Loon

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Posted by Jim Duquesnel on 08:26:05 02/20/05

In Reply to: Dead Common Loon posted by Balladares

Finding dead common loons has become a nearly annual event on north Key Largo (perhaps 5 of last 7 years). It may be migration stress. The carcasses never appear to be "washed up" on shore, instead, I find the carcasses twenty or so feet up, under shrubby vegetation, perhaps dragged there by scavenging raccoons, but sometimes on little offshore islands (Dynamite Docks island and South Creek spoil islands) that I know probably do not support raccoons, probably not even as brief visitors.

As far as the red tide theory goes, I have not heard of bird mortality except in extreme events (not like this year's relatively mild bloom, check - http://www.floridamarine.org/features/view_article.asp?id=12373

also, http://www.mote.org/~mhenry/rtupdate.phtml

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Comments:	: Finding dead common loons has become a nearly annual event on north Key Largo (perhaps 5 of last 7 years). It may be migration stress. The carcasses never appear to be "washed up" on shore, instead, I find the carcasses twenty or so feet up, under shrubby vegetation, perhaps dragged there by scavenging raccoons, but sometimes on little offshore islands (Dynamite Docks island and South Creek spoil islands) that I know probably do not support raccoons, probably not even as brief visitors. : : As far as the red tide theory goes, I have not heard of bird mortality except in extreme events (not like this year's relatively mild bloom, check - http://www.floridamarine.org/features/view_article.asp?id=12373 : : also, http://www.mote.org/~mhenry/rtupdate.phtml
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