To hear a Common Loon in the wild during summer, you’ll need to find a northern, freshwater lake where a pair is nesting. But to find that same Common Loon in winter, you’ll likely need to look on a saltwater bay. This shift from fresh to salt water would kill most animals. But loons — along with many ducks and other water birds — have evolved to make that move. It’s possible that breeding adults nest on fresh water in order to save their energy for raising chicks.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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