Mangoverde :: World Bird Guide :: Ducks, Geese and Swans :: King Eider

King Eider Somateria spectabilis

Described by: Linnaeus (1758)
Alternate common name(s): None known by website authors
Old scientific name(s): None known by website authors

Photographs

Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA - Dec 8, 2002 © Glen Tepke  Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA - Dec 8, 2002 © Glen Tepke  Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA - Dec 8, 2002 © Glen Tepke  Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA - Dec 8, 2002 © Glen Tepke  Rockport, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA - Feb 22, 2004 © Glen Tepke 
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Range

Holarctic; Circumpolar;
Greenland, Spitsbergen (Svalbard), n. Russia (Barents Sea, Kara Sea (Ostrov Belyy), Kolguyev Is., Novaya Zemlya w. to the Kanin Peninsula) e. to e. Siberia (Chokotski Peninsula, Kamchatka), Aleutians, St. Lawrence Is., St. Matthew Is., then w. across n. Alaska, and n. Canada on Prince Patrick Is., n. Ellesmere Is., s. along coastal n. Yukon, n. Mackenzie and Keewatin, Southampton Is., along the w. shore of Hudson Bay (small isolated population along coast of nw. James Bay at Cape Henrietta Maria), ex. n. Quebec (Stupart Bay, Kogaluk River), and n. Labrador.
Winters only slightly s. of the Arctic Circle s. in the White Sea, Barents Sea, Bering Sea, Aleutians, e. Canada off Labrador, Gulf of St. Lawrence and sw. Newfoundland, sw. Greenland and e. Iceland. Birds from w. Siberia winter from the White Sea w. to arctic n. Norway and occasionally the n. Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Finland. Regularly occurs further s. to ne. United States, n. Scotland, and s. Kamchatka. Nonbreeding birds often remain in wintering regions;
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North America n. of Mexican border;
Summer: n. ALK, n. MAC, Canadian Arctic islands, n. and e. KEE, ne. MAN, n. ONT to James Bay, locally in nw. QUE and Baffin Is.;
Winter: Bering Sea islands, Aleutians e. to Kodiak Is. and locally s. to s. ALK, and along the Atlantic coast from s. LAB to NFL, ex. ne. QUE, NSC, PEI, n. and e. NBR, e. MAE, se. NHP, e. MAS (Cape Cod), s. RID, and NYK (Long Island). Rare s. off NJY, DEL, MYD and VIR. A few birds winter on the Great Lakes;

Videos

No videos are available for this species

Sounds

Location unknown - Date unknown Source: ETI BioInformatics

References

Clements, James F. Birds of the World: A Checklist. Vista, CA: Ibis Publishing Company, 2000.

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