King Eider
by Lee Dos Santos
Title
King Eider
Artist
Lee Dos Santos
Medium
Photograph
Description
Male King Eider. The King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) is a large sea duck that breeds along northern hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay 4-7 eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down.
The King Eider winters in arctic and subarctic marine areas, most notably in the Bering Sea, the west coast of Greenland, eastern Canada and northern Norway. It also occurs annually off the northeastern United States, Scotland and Kamchatka. Breeding areas include the Arctic coastal tundra of the north coast of Alaska. This species dives for benthic invertebrates like crustaceans, polychaete worms, and molluscs, with mussels being a favoured food. Wintering birds can form large flocks on suitable coastal waters, with some flocks exceeding 100,000 birds.
Uploaded
June 5th, 2012
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Viewed 335 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/17/2024 at 6:54 PM
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