Gavia immer

Damariscotta Lake, Maine, July 10, 2010

One of the early lessons for a loon chick is how to raise up its body out of the water and shake off water droplets. This is used later on to signal to other loons or to warn off predators, or sometimes to shake off mites. Note the brown back and head feathers and white breast feathers. Also, the body has developed much more rapidly than the wings.