Ep. 13 - Loonacy

4 hours ago
4 min read

Loonlets go for a ride. Credit: National Geographic — Loonlets go for a ride. Credit: *National Geographic*

We get a bit looney as we discuss the magnificent Gavia Immer, better known as the Common Loon. How did this unique water fowl beat out its far more popular avian competition—including the Scarlet Tanager, the Robin, the Goldfinch, and Meadowlark—to become the official state bird of Minnesota? And can they really shoot lasers out of their eyes? We'll answer at least one of those questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7i3zq4D7fQ

Loon Pics!

You want 'em, we've got 'em: photos of one of the most photogenic birds out there:

And here's what they look like when making their iconic cry.

Here is a posture that loons assume known as the "hangover." This is what they do to signal you are too close to their nest:

In a separate incident from the one described in the episode, a loon launches out of the water to scare off a bald eagle on Bow Lake in Northwood, New Hampshire. (Image credit: Jon Winslow)

Like penguins, cormorants, and other diving birds, Loons are truly built for diving underwater:

Here's something you won't see in Minnesota: a common loon with its winter coloring.

And there are four other species of loon beyond the Common Loon, all with slightly different patterning. Here is a Pacific Loon:

Not gonna lie, this is pretty cool, too.

Other Contenders

The other bird that came nearest to becoming the Minnesota state bird was the Scarlet Tanager. Here's what they look like:

Only the male Tanagers are actually scarlet. The females are yellow:

Other birds that came close in the running were the goldfinch:

The Meadowlark had its fans:

As did the Wood Duck:

And of course, the Robin.

You know what a robin looks like, so we're using this opportunity to inform you that the animatronic robin featured in Mary Poppins is incorrectly the American rather than British robin. — You know what a robin looks like, so we're using this opportunity to inform you that the animatronic robin featured in *Mary Poppins* is incorrectly the American rather than British robin.

Note that the Goldfinch, Meadowlark, and Robin were already the state bird of multiple states.

Loon Iconography

In 2022, the Minnesota State Legislature passed a bill to redesign the state flag and state seal (and don't worry, we've got an episode on that history coming up soon). In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature established the State Emblems Redesign Commission, which began accepting public submissions. They received 2,123 flag proposals and 398 seal designs. Hundreds of these proposals included loon imagery, and many of these gained quite popular traction on social media. Here are just a few of the loon-related flag proposals:

Even more specifically, loons shooting lasers was a popular motif:

Ultimately, the flag that was chosen did not involve a loon. Or did it . . .

However, the new state seal, officially adopted in 2024, prominently features a loon:

Some of the laser-loon flag proposals remained popular. The St. Paul Public Library even used one as the basis for a new library card design:

Rebel Loons

And then came the occupation of Minnesota by over 6,000 ICE agents in Operation Metro Surge in late 2025 and early 2026. Outnumbering local law enforcement more than five to one, ICE agents used Gestapo-like tactics to ICE agents stop, harass, detain, and even murder Minnesota residents regardless of their citizenship status. But Minnesota did not take this lying down, and people mobilized to protect our neighbors in a truly inspiring amount of ways. The resistance to ICE produced a truly staggering amount of original artwork, and loons became a popular motif. Here are just a few examples:

However, nothing could compare to the popularity of the "Rebel Loon" icon. On January 19th, 2026, someone with the username Feral_User_ posted this image to the r/Minnesota Reddit forum:

The original "Rebel Loon" by Bernardo Anderson.

This clever combination of a loon and the Rebel Alliance symbol from Star Wars immediately went viral and within days was fast becoming the definitive symbol of Minnesotan resistance to Federfal tyranny. The creator had originally hoped to stay anonymous, but was soon outed as web developer Bernardo Anderson of Moorhead. Nobly, he refused to copyright the popular image. "It's everyone's logo, because it symbolizes an idea, and I can't copyright an idea," Anderson told MPR.

Soon hundreds of other versions and variations were making their rounds, showing up in people's profile pics, on protest signs, flags, in graffiti, in original paintings, stickers, posters, flyers, t-shirts, hats, mugs, and eventually every conceivable type of merchandise. Here are just a few of the popular variants:

The first known variant, posted on Threads by user TKdoesphotos one day after the original.

First posted on Facebook by Riina Ryynanen Loar, 1/22/26.

"Loon Squadron" design by Garrett Wedan.

Ever since, the "rebel loon" has been far and away the most requested tatoo in tatoo parlors across the state. Thousands of Minnesotans now have this emblem permanently inscribed on their body.

Just six days after the original Reddit post that started it all, was founded and is directed by writer and editor Erica Helander founded The Rebel Loon Archive to collect and showcase Minnesota protest art., The project is now run as an LLC with a mission to preserve primary sources before they disappear and publicize these works through art books, museum exhibits, and a publicly accessible digital archive, so that these artworks can be appreciated and studied far into the future.