When birds migrate back to the Northwoods from their winter homes there could be many challenges and each year can be different. There are three things that start this migration and those are longer hours of daylight, weather conditions and food availability. But when birds start to migrate north, they do not know what kind of weather they will encounter.

Many people follow ALLNORTHWOODS.COM on a weekly basis and some of them will suggest I write about a certain subject that others might find interesting. A few friends of this site and my wife Monica told me they saw on Facebook that loons were falling and crashing to the ground this past week because of freezing rain.

Let me first say, I am one of those people that do not believe everything you see on the internet and I’m not on Facebook, so when I hear about something unusual, I have to research that item before I can accept it is real. That being said, it is TRUE that loons were falling out of the sky due to the weather conditions.

When loons migrate back from their wintering habitat to the Northwoods that journey can be strenuous. Leaving the coastal areas such as the Atlantic, Pacific or Gulf of Mexico, loons can travel 1 to 2 thousand miles back to their summer breeding grounds. As I mentioned above, photoperiod, weather and the availability of food is the driving force to migration.

The weather at loons’ winter home location might suggest it’s time to leave, but there is no way of knowing how severe the conditions could be along their journey. This year’s challenging flight might be the worst in years due to the freezing rain that occurred last week. Freezing rain develops between 1 to 3 thousand feet when warm air is above cold air and guess what altitude loons fly? Yep, loons typically fly at 1 to 3 thousand feet.

Depending on their age and health, loons can cover up to 100 miles per day, but studies have shown some have exceeded over 200 miles.  Being that the common loon’s wingspan is between 45 to 50 inches, maintain speeds of 70mph and weighing up to 13 pounds so, when freezing rain starts to accumulate on their wings, it’s impossible for them to remain airborne. Hence loons falling from the sky.

How devastating is this? These crash landings are injuring or killing the loons.  The loons that do not die from the crashing to the ground and are hurt have a long road ahead of them. Loons CAN NOT walk on land and actually need to run on top of the water and even with favorable wind conditions need over 300 feet to take flight.

People that are finding these loons are encouraged not to try to help them by picking them up. In doing so, the most likely injured bird can/will struggle and this could damage the loons worse than they already are. Bird rescue centers are asking folks to call them and volunteers that are trained for such instances know how to handle injured birds and will bring them in for evaluation and hopefully rehabilitation.

I’m anticipating these loons that have been brought to the bird rescue centers will receive the medical aid needed and they can continue their journey north and put the horrendous beginning of their migration behind them. Fingers crossed that we have open water when the breeding pairs arrive and we can hear that eerie call that echoes across our lakes once again.