Editing King eider (section)

== Taxonomy and etymology ==
When he first described the king eider in 1758, in the 10th edition of his opus [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|Systema Naturae]], [[Carl Linnaeus]] assigned it to the [[genus]] ''Anas'', along with the rest of the [[duck]]s.<ref name="HBW621" /> In 1819, [[William Elford Leach]] moved it and the other large eiders to the genus ''[[Somateria]]'', where it has remained since.<ref name="ITIS" /> It is very closely related to the other members of its genus, and is known to [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridise]] with the [[common eider]].<ref name="Trefry" /> Despite its very large range, it is [[monotypic]].<ref name="HBW621" />

The genus name ''Somateria'' is a combination of the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''sōma'', meaning "body", and ''erion'', meaning "wool"; the combination (i.e. "wooly body") is a reference to the eider's famously thick, soft down.<ref name="Sandrock" /> The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] ''spectabilis'' is [[Latin]] for "showy", "remarkable" or "worth seeing", a reference to the handsomeness of the adult male's [[plumage]].<ref name="Sandrock" /> The bird's [[common name]], king eider, is a direct translation of its Icelandic name.<ref name="Smith" /> It is called "king" because of the orange, crown-like knob above the male's [[beak|bill]]; the male's multicoloured plumage also suggests royal robes.<ref name="Sandrock" /> "Eider" is a Dutch, German or Swedish word derived from the Icelandic word ''æður'' (meaning eider), itself derived from the Old Norse ''æthr''.<ref name="Dict" />