The park's two major geographic features are both named after birds. "Shetek" is derived from the Ojibwe language word for pelican. Loon Island is a misnomer, however; the large diving birds seen by the pioneers were double-crested cormorants, not common loons. In the 1910s locals blamed the cormorants for depleting Lake Shetek's fish population and organized a hunt to extirpate them. Due to the hunt and ongoing human disturbance, the species is only seen on Lake Shetek during migration and no longer breeds there.