The ACLP conducts long-term research to evaluate the risk that airborne mercury pollution poses to the common loon population in the Adirondack Park.  Coal-fired power plants in mid-western North America are important sources of energy for the United States and Canada.  Unfortunately, pollutants, such as mercury and “acid rain,” are also produced when coal is incinerated for energy production.  The emissions of many of these pollutants are currently poorly regulated or have yet to be regulated.  The prevailing winds in North America send these emissions east, leading to contamination of many aquatic and terrestrial habitats in the Northeast.

To determine the impact of airborne pollutants on the Adirondack loon population, the ACLP’s research evaluates the reproductive success and survival of Adirondack loons in relation to mercury levels in the birds and to acidity of the lakes they inhabit.  Long-term monitoring of loon mercury levels over time from the same birds and the same locations will enable the tracking of reductions in mercury emissions and acid deposition upon further implementation of emission regulations.  The concentrations of mercury that exist at each level of the food chain within the loon territories have also been studied to improve scientific understanding of how mercury flows through aquatic ecosystems.  

The results of ACLP’s research will enable policy makers to better understand the risks that environmental mercury contamination has on the health of wildlife populations and their habitats.  Collaboration with similar studies conducted throughout New England, provides natural resource managers and policy makers with a scientific basis for making informed decisions concerning state and national management policies for the common loon and the regulation of airborne environmental pollutants on a regional scale.

In 2003, the ACLP, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, initiated a study to identify the locations of migratory and wintering habitat important to the Adirondack loon population.  Information about the seasonal migratory patterns and winter habitat selection obtained from these loons has greatly increased our knowledge about common loon natural history, year-round habitat use and requirements.   By determining areas critical to loon populations, scientists and wildlife managers are better able to focus conservation efforts on the protection or improvement of these valuable habitats. 

Through this research project, the Adirondack Cooperative Loon Program and the U.S. Geological Survey contribute to a broader understanding of the year-round distribution of Northeastern loon populations, and provide information to better assess the impact of factors (e.g.: oil spills, botulism, environmental contamination and toxins) affecting loons throughout their range.  This study complements research conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in the Midwest to determine migration, staging, and wintering areas significant to North American loon populations.

This project is supported by funding from the partners of the ACLP, including federal funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grants Program to the NYS DEC, grants from the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute and the G.E. Foundation to the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, as well as support from the U.S. Geological Survey. The Wildlife Conservation Society’s veterinary staff provided assistance with transmitter implantation.

Satellite transmitters were manufactured for this project by Microwave Telemetry, Inc.

On the third Saturday of July each year, New York visitors and residents have the opportunity to spend an hour helping ACLP by exploring their favorite lake looking for loons as part of the ACLP’s “Annual Loon Census,” a citizen-science project to estimate the current status of the breeding loon population in the Adirondack Park.  Census participants choose a lake or pond, and report on the number and age class of loons, as well as characteristics of each lake important to loon breeding habitat. 

The results of the Annual Loon Census provide information about the current status and trends in New York’s summer loon population, especially the breeding population in and around the Adirondack Park.  This effort is coordinated with similar counts conducted on the same day and time throughout the Northeast, to enable scientists to better estimate the common loon population on a regional scale.  Results from the ACLP’s Annual Loon Census have been valuable to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for use in the development of Unit Management Plans and the Breeding Bird Atlas.  The data obtained through the census has also been utilized by the NYS Natural Heritage Program, the Adirondack Park Agency, and by Audubon New York for identifying Important Bird Areas in the Adirondack Park.