If the pace of every day life is making you a bit loony, then take a pause for the cause and volunteer as a Citizen Scientist at Glacier National Park: Enjoy the park while counting loons, monitoring their behavior, and evaluating their habitat.

Since 2005, nearly 300 volunteers have hiked, drove or boated to 45 lakes Glacier National Park to take stock of this elusive waterfowl of the wild. The findings: Glacier harbors approximately 20 percent of Montana’s breeding Common Loons, with an average of about 36 adults and 5 chicks each year.

Before 2005, surveys of Glacier’s loon population had been conducted annually since 1989, but limited resources restricted organized, data collection to the one-day, statewide event known as Loon Day. Held in mid-July, Loon Day has and continues to provide valuable information on population numbers and nesting activity; however, it is only a limited survey upon which to build management direction.

In 2005, Glacier's Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center began to enlist volunteers to engage in a more comprehensive census. The research has helped Glacier resource managers to identify factors affecting loon nesting success in Glacier National Park. Volunteers have helped the park locate and map nest sites, areas of potential disturbance, and probable nursery areas on each of the lakes with known nesting activity for use in future monitoring and management.

CCRLC staff have worked with Waterton Lakes National Park staff in order to extend the program to the Canadian side of the Peace Park. Waterton staff and Canadian voluneers, in cooperation with Glacier, have conducted surveys on all eight potential loon lakes in Waterton.

Volunteers are trained to monitor and document loon behavior without alarming these sensitive birds, which can be easily spooked. Volunteers are asked to visit the same site at least three times during the spring and summer, so this is an activity ideally suited for local residents.

To learn more, contact Melissa Peterson at the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center.

Moderate

Adults