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Loon Magic - Wayzata Technology (8011) (1993).iso
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06wildmg.txt
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1993-07-25
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The Hoot
This one-note call sounds just like it reads if you go softly on the
"t." Frequently used but not often reported because it is a quiet,
intimate call, the hoot is used mainly between family members and
may serve an "I'm O.K./are you O.K.?" function. Barklow terms the
hoot a location call, letting the mate or chicks know the sender's
whereabouts. It is often used by adults to bring the chicks in close
for feeding.
Other conversational sounds from loons include what Judy
McIntyre calls the "mew" call. This call comes close to the soft cry of
a human baby and is primarily used to communicate with chicks.
McIntyre has heard adults luring the newly hatched chicks off the
nest with the call. I recall first hearing the sound in 1980 during a
September canoe trip. While watching an undisturbed adult and two
nearly full-grown young, I heard frequent cries, like a gull but softer.