This Common Loon chick is just a few days old. Upon hatching, most young birds are either altricial (born naked and helpless) or precocial (fully feathered and capable of feeding themselves). Loons fall somewhere in between; the name for this condition is subprecocial.
When loon chicks hatch they are covered with black, downy feathers and are able to swim. However, they are unable to capture food and feed themselves (even at nine weeks of age, their capture success rate is only 51%). They are dependent upon their parents for food as well as for warmth, as the chicks are also incapable of regulating their body heat and are brooded under their parents' wings much of the time during the first couple of weeks.
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