The King eider (Somateria spectabilis) is a large sea duck that breeds along the Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America, and Asia. It is adapted to a very cold climate and uses various foraging strategies to obtain its food. The female of this species is occasionally colloquially called a "queen eider".
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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MolluscivoreA molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specializes in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods, and cephalopods. Known mo...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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PrecocialPrecocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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WaterfowlWaterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans. They ...
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SeabirdSeabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, b...
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SemiaquaticSemiaquatic animals are those that are primarily or partly terrestrial but that spend a large amount of time swimming or otherwise occupied in wate...
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NatatorialNatatorial animals are those adapted for swimming. Some fish use their pectoral fins as the primary means of locomotion, sometimes termed labriform...
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Serial monogamySerial monogamy is a mating system in which a pair bonds only for one breeding season.
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FlockingFlocking birds are those that tend to gather to forage or travel collectively. Avian flocks are typically associated with migration. Flocking also ...
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Highly socialHighly social animals are those which are highly interactive with other members of their species. They live in large groups, nest in colonies, and ...
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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starts withThe male King eider is slightly larger and, in breeding plumage, much more colourful than the female. The male is unmistakable with its mostly black body, buff-tinged white breast and multicoloured head. The head, nape and neck are a pale bluish-grey. The cheek is pale green. The bill, separated from the face by a thin black line, is red with a white nail and a large, distinctive yellow knob. Some tertials are curved up and form "spurs" along the back. The female is a warm brown colour overall, slightly paler on the head and neck. The feathers on her upperparts and flanks are marked with blackish chevrons, while those on her neck and head bear fine black streaks. She has a buffy spot at the base of her bill and a buffy eye ring which extends into a downward curving stripe behind her eye. Her bill is variously described as black or grey, and her legs and feet are greenish-grey. Juvenile birds are greyish brown. Late in their first autumn, young males moult into a darker plumage, with white on the breast and rump; it takes them three years to achieve full adult plumage.
King eiders are found throughout the Arctic. They breed on the Arctic coast of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Svalbard, and Russia. These birds prefer to breed in tundra near freshwater lakes, small rivers, streams, bogs, and marshes, and winter in arctic and subarctic marine areas, most notably in the Bering Sea, the west coast of Greenland, eastern Canada, and northern Norway. They also occur annually in the northeastern United States, Scotland, and Kamchatka.
When not breeding King eiders are highly social. On their wintering grounds, they can form large flocks on suitable coastal waters, which may exceed 100,000 birds. However, during the nesting period, King eiders usually spend time in pairs or small groups. The birds are active during the day spending their time swimming, flying, resting, and foraging. Their feeding methods change depending on the season. For much of the year, King eiders spend at sea; there, they dive for benthic invertebrates. During the breeding season, they do more of their foraging in freshwater lakes and ponds, where they dabble, feeding primarily on small invertebrates plucked from the surface of the water. King eiders are excellent divers and can walk or run on land and ice. The male's song is a quavering, dove-like cooing, that sounds like 'croo-croo-croo' or 'hoo-hoo-hooo'. The female makes a variety of low clucks, grunts, and growls.
King eiders are carnivores (molluscivores). They mainly eat mollusks, crustaceans like king crabs, sea urchins, starfish, and sea anemones. When on land they can eat insects and some plants.
King eiders are serially monogamous and form pairs right before or during spring migration. Their pair bonds last only one breeding season and some males can mate with more than one female. The nesting period usually starts in early June and pairs nest solitarily. The female builds a scrape nest on the ground, usually near water. She lines it with vegetation and down feathers from her own body. She lays a clutch of 2 to 7 eggs, which she alone incubates for 22-23 days. Once the eggs are laid, males leave their mates and depart for molting areas. The young are raised collectively by the females. When the young have fledged, family groups migrate toward molting grounds, and after molting, most birds move to spend the winter at sea. Young King eiders remain at sea during their first summer and start to breed when they are around 2-3 years old.
King eiders suffer from hunting, loss of nesting habitat, changes in climate, oil pollution, and disturbances during the molting period.
According to the IUCN Red List, the total population size of the King eider is around 800,000-900,000 individuals, while the population in Russia consists of around 10,000-100,000 breeding pairs and 1,000-10,000 wintering individuals. The European population consists of 37,500-45,500 pairs, which equates to 75,000-91,000 mature individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, but its numbers today are decreasing.
