Damn, I'm not one for Nature TV....

[JBoy]

9. I don't know that there's anything particularly unique about the loon

Except that it has a peaceful, haunting call, usually only heard in the evening on lakes across Canada.

I wouldn't be surprised that the loon got put on the "loonie" after some guy heard a loon call on a weekend up at the cottage. After a day of trimming trees and fixing bug screens, he sat down in his chair with his third or fourth cold beer, the sun going down, everything quiet, and he thought "this is perfect". Then a lone loon called out, and, because this particular guy was the head of the Canadian Mint, he said to himself "the loon will grace our new dollar coin."