Low on loons: How climate change is reducing the number of these aquatic birds

A loon floats in Bluff Lake in Antioch. Loons are most often seen in the Chain O' Lakes in late March and early April as they migrate north. — Photos: STACEY WESCOTT/Chicago Tribune/TNS

FOR three decades, David Johnson has guided nature lovers in early spring to northern Illinois lakes to hear the eerie yodelling of hundreds of common loons.

Within the next 30 years, however, there may be few if any migrating loons in Illinois, according to Walter Piper, researcher and professor of biology at Chapman University in Orange, California.