ASSOCIATED PRESS • December 15, 2025
Loons are on the mend in Maine, filling more of the state’s lakes and ponds with their haunting calls, although conservationists say the birds aren’t out of the woods yet. Maine is home to a few thousand of the distinctive black-and-white waterbirds — the East Coast’s largest loon population — and conservationists said efforts to protect them from threats helped grow the population. An annual count of common loons found more adults and chicks this year than last, Maine Audubon said. It’s still too early to know if Maine’s loons are on a sustainable path to recovery, and the success of the state’s breeding loons is critical to the population at large.