Somateria spectabilis
The King Eider is a magnificent and robust sea duck, instantly recognizable by its striking sexual dimorphism and Arctic distribution. Males are truly spectacular, sporting a prominent, bulbous orange frontal shield (often called a 'knob') at the base of their bill, a pale greenish nape, black body, and a clean white chest and wings, measuring 47-64 cm in length with a wingspan of 86-102 cm and weighing between 1.1 and 2.1 kg. Females are cryptically mottled warm brown, finely barred with dar...
Breeds on low-lying coastal Arctic tundra, often near freshwater pools. Spends non-breeding seasons in highly productive marine waters, from shallow coastal areas to deep offshore open ocean leads.
Feeds almost exclusively on marine invertebrates, primarily mussels, clams, sea urchins, and crustaceans. Forages by diving underwater to pluck prey directly from the seafloor or rocks.
Primarily diurnal, the King Eider is a master diver, spending much of its day foraging by submerging to depths of 20-60 meters, and occasionally deeper, to extract prey from the seafloor. Outside the breeding season, they are highly gregarious, forming vast, dense rafts of thousands of individual...
The King Eider is an exclusively Holarctic species, breeding in the high Arctic tundras across North America, Greenland, Svalbard, and Russia. In North America, its breeding range spans the Arctic coasts of Alaska, Canada (including Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and northern Quebec). Dur...
Least Concern
- The male's scientific epithet 'spectabilis' is Latin for 'spectacular' or 'remarkable,' a fitting description for its stunning plumage. - King Eiders are among the deepest-diving ducks, capable of reaching depths exceeding 60 meters to feed on benthic organisms. - The down of the King Eider, li...