Editing Common loon (section)

=== Popular culture ===
The bird is central to the plot of the children's novel ''[[Great Northern?]]'' by [[Arthur Ransome]] (in which it is referred to throughout as "great northern diver", with the then current scientific name ''Colymbus immer''). The story is set in the [[Outer Hebrides]], where the main characters—a group of children on holiday—notice a pair of divers apparently nesting there. Checking their bird book, they believe that these are great northern divers. However, these have not previously been seen to nest in northern Scotland, and so they ask for help from an ornithologist. He confirms that these birds are indeed the great northern; unfortunately, it soon transpires that he does not wish merely to observe, but wants to steal the eggs and add them to his collection; and to do this, he must first kill the birds. Published in 1947, the story is one where the conservationists are the eventual victors over the [[Egg collecting|egg collector]], at a time when the latter hobby was not widely considered to be harmful.<ref>{{cite web|last=McGinnis|first=Molly|date=February 2004|title=Totem Animals in Swallows & Amazons: Great Northern?|url=http://www.allthingsransome.org/literary/totemgreatnorthern.html|access-date=26 March 2010|work=[[All Things Ransome]]}}</ref><ref name="Hardyment">{{cite book|last=Hardyment|first=Christina|title=Arthur Ransome & Captain Flint's Trunk|publisher=Jonathan Cape|year=1984|isbn=978-0-224-02989-6|location=London|pages=201–204}}</ref>

[[Major League Soccer]] club [[Minnesota United FC]] uses the loon in its crest and nickname, as well as a mascot.<ref>{{cite news|last=La Vaque|first=David|date=27 October 2016|title=Minnesota United to donate portion of 2017 season ticket purchases to help loons|work=[[Star-Tribune]]|location=Minneapolis|url=http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-united-to-donate-portion-of-2017-season-ticket-purchases-to-help-loons/398911731/|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref>

[[Minor League Baseball]] team [[Great Lakes Loons]], located in [[Midland, Michigan]] also uses the loon in its logo and name, as well as a mascot.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.milb.com/great-lakes | title=Great Lakes Loons }}</ref>

==== Films ====
The wailing call of the loon is widely used in film and television to evoke wilderness and suspense,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2002-06-14|title=The birds of Hollywood: An unnatural history|url=https://www.salon.com/2002/06/13/ornithology/|access-date=2021-10-13|website=Salon|language=en}}</ref> and is referenced in songs such as "[[Old Devil Moon]]" ("wanna laugh like a loon").<ref name="Cocker">{{cite book | last = Cocker | first = Mark |author2=Mabey, Richard |title = Birds Britannica | year=2005 |location=London | publisher=Chatto & Windus | isbn=978-0-7011-6907-7| pages=306–307}}</ref>

Loons are featured prominently in the 1981 film ''[[On Golden Pond (1981 film)|On Golden Pond]]''.<ref name="tex">{{cite journal|last=Wolcott|first=James|year=1982|title=Big frogs, small pond|journal=[[Texas Monthly]]|volume=10|issue=1|page=120}}</ref> Its distinctive sound also appeared in [[Conan the Barbarian (1982 film)|''Conan the Barbarian'']], [[Out of Africa (film)|''Out of Africa'']], [[Platoon (film)|''Platoon'']], [[Guinevere (1999 film)|''Guinevere'']], [[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)|''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'']], ''[[Rick and Morty]]'', [[Watchmen (2009 film)|''Watchmen'']], [[Godzilla (2014 film)|''Godzilla'']], ''[[Kubo and the Two Strings]]'', ''[[Avengers: Infinity War]]'', [[Pet Sematary (2019 film)|''Pet Sematary'']], [[1917 (2019 film)|''1917'']] and ''[[Avengers: Endgame]]'', among others.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cascione|first=Marie|date=2021-10-13|title=Why Hollywood loves this creepy bird call|url=https://www.vox.com/videos/2021/10/13/22725104/hollywood-creepy-bird-call-common-loon|access-date=2021-10-13|website=Vox|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=McCarter|first=Reid |title=A look at why the loon's call is used as TV and movies' go-to wilderness sound effect|url=https://www.avclub.com/a-look-at-why-the-loons-call-is-used-as-tv-and-movies-g-1847872228|access-date=2021-10-13|website=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Blaine|first=Valerie|date=2020-02-17|title=Why the loon's iconic call says so much|url=https://www.dailyherald.com/entlife/20200217/why-the-loons-iconic-call-says-so-much|access-date=2021-10-13|website=Daily Herald|language=en-US}}</ref><!-- https://birding-world.com/hollywood-goes-birds/
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In the 2016 [[Pixar]] movie ''[[Finding Dory]]'', a somewhat bedraggled and dimwitted loon named Becky is persuaded to use a bucket to help two of the main characters, Nemo and Marlin, get into a marine life institute where the titular Dory is trapped.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/movies/finding-dory-review-pixar.html|title=Review: In 'Finding Dory,' a Forgetful Fish and a Warm Celebration of Differences|last=Scott|first=A.O.|date=15 June 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=14 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511020310/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/movies/finding-dory-review-pixar.html|archive-date=11 May 2017}}</ref>