Have you heard about the pair of Common Loons that are raising two Canada Goose goslings in Michigan?
It all started when a Canada Goose laid two eggs in a loon nest. The eggs were incubated without question by the loons and they eventually hatched. It didn’t take long for the goslings to make their way to water and surprisingly started riding on the back of the loons. While loon chicks ride on their parents’ backs, goslings don’t! Instead, goslings swim behind their parents. This isn’t the only difference between the two species. Loons eat fish whereas geese eat vegetation, loons dive for their food whereas geese dabble and loons don’t walk on land, but Canada Geese do.
This isn’t the first time a loon has cared for another species. It happened in Wisconsin in 2019 — a pair of loons cared for a Mallard duckling. It’s believed something happened to their loon chick and they adopted the Mallard duckling, which got separated from its family. The young Mallard was seen being fed fish and riding on the back of its adoptive loon parents. Loons are quite territorial during the breeding season and will often drive Mallards away. However, there was a Mallard duckling eating fish when they primarily eat invertebrates and plant matter — the duckling even learned to dive like a loon despite being a dabbling duck! No one really knows how this story ended except that one day the three birds dispersed and that was that.
It will be interesting to see how this nature story unfolds between the loons and goslings. Will instincts kick-in for these goslings or will they incorporate some of their newly learned life skills from their adoptive loon parents?
Perhaps these loons can teach us all a little something. It is a reminder that we’re really not that different from one another and to be a little more accepting of others.