What the Common Loon is Telling Us
“At this difficult moment, it’s more important than ever for us to remember our connections with the larger-than-human world, and to celebrate the never-ending music of this miraculous planet that is our one and only home. ”
In preparation for The Great Northern’s presentation of Alarm Will Sound: Ten Thousand Birds by John Luther Adams, a work inspired by Adams’ lifelong fascination with birdsong, we invited Audubon’s Chief Conservation Officer Marshall Johnson to explain how “birds are a bellwether of what is happening in the environment” and what we need to do to ensure their songs can be heard for generations to come.
by Marshall Johnson
The haunting wail of the Common Loon… a sound that sweeps over the skies and our hearts at dusk and dawn. A song as synonymous with these lands we call Minnesota as the 10,000 lakes themselves. For centuries, first peoples, Ojibwa, Lakota Sioux, and many others came to think of the Loon as the spirt of the wild north, representing harmony, generosity, and peace.
Did you catch what I said there? For centuries. In fact, archaeologists have uncovered Loon fossils which date back more than 35 million years. Loons have been calling out from these waters of the north since before even this land’s ancestors arrived.
I often think of the song of birds as my playlist in nature. In this way, birds are the constant companion to humanity.
Perhaps no other creature roaming earth, waters or skies has inspired more poems than Minnesota’s cherished state bird, its cry touching the souls of poets who identify so much of human wanting, desire, and loss in the Loon’s song. Yet, one needn’t be a poet to enjoy these melodies – you just have to listen. Having made a career with the Audubon Society, you can imagine that I spend a lot of time listening to birds. We all should.
After graduating from the University of Minnesota, I joined the National Audubon Society as a part-time climate organizer in Fargo, North Dakota. The plan was to work for Audubon for six months – and that was more than 13 years ago. What can I say? The power of birds and the people who love them, continue to have quite the grip on me. I grew up in big cities like Dallas, Texas and Los Angeles, California. I never knew there were people whose entire careers were dedicated to protecting birds. And I honestly can’t say that I knew birds even needed our protection.
Birds are the prism through which we view our work at Audubon. They connect us to people and communities all over, across Minnesota and the Northern Great Plains, and across the entire Western Hemisphere, from the Boreal Forest in Canada down to Chile and Argentina.
Adult Sandhill Cranes. Photo: Steve Torna/Audubon Photography Awards
Through their miraculous journeys across continents, birds tell us where the most important places are for conservation. Places like Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, the landscape where I came to love birds, where Audubon Minnesota recently completed the first phase of a wetland enhancement project managing non-native, invasive hybrid cattail on 762 acres of critical habitat that will restore critical habitat for birds such as the Sandhill Crane and the Greater Prairie Chicken. The glacial ridge is a key priority area within a globally Important Bird Area, one of 57 Important Bird Areas identified in Minnesota and part of an ambitious effort led by our Minnesota team to combine science, education, advocacy, and on the ground conservation to restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and their habitats to strengthen our biological diversity.
Adult male Greater Prairie Chicken. Photo: Steve Oehlenschlager/iStock/Audobon.org
The fact is, birds tell us a lot of things if we’re keen to listen.
Birds are telling us that the climate is changing. Something we are seeing all the time here in Minnesota.
We look at the mighty Mississippi River with more uncertainty than ever before, as what were previously once-in-a-lifetime flooding events are becoming far more common. Our summer skies are darkened by the smoke of fires raging thousands of miles away. While not everyone will be obliged to track our global temperature, all Americans understand the importance of fresh drinking water, the threat of flooding, and the dangers of extreme drought.
Birds are a bellwether of what is happening in the environment. They are telling us they are in trouble. And if they are in trouble, so are we. When I say that we must listen to birds, I am specifically referring to the science.
At Audubon, our work is rooted in community action driven by science, policy and on-the-ground restoration. In 2019, Audubon published a groundbreaking study based on years of research that bore out an extreme warning: North American birds face a dire future if the current pace of global climate change continues. Two-thirds of American bird species are at risk.
This dire reality includes our summer companion, the Common Loon, which is among 55 species likely to disappear from Minnesota in most of our lifetimes if we do not answer the most pressing issue of our time. Birds tell us we must substantively reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. A warmer climate will lead to more early-season heat waves, impairing the Loon’s nesting success, and possibly starving chicks.
Our science also shows that if we take action now we can help improve the chances for 76 percent of those species at risk by transitioning to more renewable energies and leveraging the power of healthy ecosystems that provide natural protections for bird habitat. From new federal policies like the Inflation Reduction Act, to our work in the glacial ridge, we’re making progress to protect birds, people, and the places we need.
“I believe that birds and those who love them can and will help bring about the change birds and humans most desperately need.”
You may laugh, but I believe that birds and those who love them can and will help bring about the change birds and humans most desperately need. Our collective voice is a mobilizing force that inspires, informs, and can drive meaningful action. And action starts with community building. Audubon was founded at the turn of the last century as a collection of small community groups to end the mass killing of birds to supply the growing use of their feathers for fashion. It achieved just that with the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which remains the bedrock of bird conservation in this country.
I’m optimistic in the ability of nearly two million members and 600 campus chapters to meet the challenges birds and people are facing today. Did you know that more than 47 million Americans identify themselves as birders?
Imagine what a community that large could accomplish when united and driven by this shared passion.
Many years ago while on a tour of the Platte River in Nebraska, a good friend of mine asked me if I knew what the saddest five words in the English language are?
He said they were: “You should have been there.”
It’s painful to imagine telling my grandkids someday, “When birds filled the skies. Loons cried out from the waters. You should have been there.”
Let’s make sure that we’ll never say those words.
Marshall Johnson serves as Audubon’s Chief Conservation Officer, overseeing its conservation strategies of Water, Coasts, Climate and Bird-friendly Communities, as well as its Science, Audubon Americas, Field and Network teams. Marshall leads strategic direction for hemispheric-wide conservation work at Audubon to address the unprecedented climate change and biodiversity crises facing birds.
He previously served as Vice President for Audubon Dakotas where he raised more than $50M, spearheading the development and launch of the Northern Great Plains Grasslands project, which has conserved nearly 500,000 acres across the Dakotas, enrolling over 300 farmers, ranchers and communities. Marshall also served as Vice President of Audubon’s Conservation Ranching (ACR) Initiative, now America’s largest regenerative, bird-friendly land certification, spanning more than 3.5M acres across 16 states. Marshall led the creation of the Urban Woods & Prairies Initiative which has created over 36 new nature parks across North Dakota, creating safe passage for migratory birds, while returning over 2,000 acres back to nature and increasing recreational access and ecosystem services across 5 communities.
Marshall serves on the boards of the U.S Prairie Pothole Joint Venture and the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust. Marshall resides in Fargo, ND.