Latin: Somateria fischeri
Average length: M 20", F 19"
Average weight: M 3 lbs., F 3 lbs.
Description: In both sexes, the feathers extend down to the nostrils, a characteristic not found in the other eiders. Male spectacled eiders are striking with a pale green head, bright orange bill, and the characteristic white spectacle-like patches around the eyes. The chest, rump, tail, and belly are black and the throat, neck, and back are white. The legs and feet are yellow-brown and the iris of the eye is pale blue. Female spectacled eiders are a tawny color, similar to the female king and common eiders, with a gray-blue bill and light brown spectacles around their blue eyes. The legs and feet are yellow-brown.
Breeding: Spectacled eiders nest within a narrow coastal strip of Alaska and in northeastern Siberia. Female spectacle eiders prefer to nest in sedge meadows and on peninsulas and islands adjacent to tundra ponds and lay an average of 4 to 5 eggs. During brood rearing they concentrate on inland ponds and coastal shallows, feeding on crane flies and caddis fly larvae.
Migrating and Wintering: Spectacled eiders leave the Yukon Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta in Alaska after breeding (Males: late June, Females: late July through August) and move out to sea (Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas). The majority winter in the Bering Sea, although they have been recorded in the Aleutian Islands, Kenai Peninsula, and Kodiak Island. Individuals have been recorded as far south as Vancouver Island and the California coast.
Population:The world population of spectacled eiders was estimated at 330,000 birds in 1997. In North America, the Y-K Delta is host to the largest breeding population. However, this population has declined from 96,000 individuals in the 1970s to about 8,000 today. Biologists believe the decline is a result of lead poisoning from spent lead shot and food decline in the Bering Sea, where spectacled eiders winter.
Feeding habits: Spectacled eiders often feed like dabbling ducks immersing their heads below water and tipping up to forage. They feed primarily on mollusks and crustaceans in shallow waters and may forage on pelagic or free-floating amphipods that are concentrated along the sea water-pack ice interface. On coastal breeding grounds, they feed on freshwater mollusks, small crustaceans, insect larvae, grasses, berries, and seeds.
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