FALMOUTH, Maine — Maine Audubon’s annual attempt to quantify the recovery of loons in the state will take place in mid-July.
Maine Audubon conducts a loon count every year to help get an idea of how the bird’s population is faring. This year’s count is scheduled for July 17.
The event started in the early 1980s. The organization said the number of adult loons in the southern half of the state has about doubled since then from 1,500 to almost 3,000.
Conservation efforts such as Maine’s ban on lead tackle, which can be fatal to loons, has helped the loon population record, Maine Audubon said. Tracy Hart, Maine Audubon wildlife ecologist, said the count “gives us a window into the status and changes in Maine’s Common Loon population over time.”