Editing King eider

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = King eider
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Pleistocene|present}}
| image = King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (13667616745).jpg
| image_caption = Adult male in northern [[Norway]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Somateria spectabilis'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22680409A132526730 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22680409A132526730.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Somateria
| species = spectabilis
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| range_map = Somateria spectabilis map.svg
| range_map_caption = {{leftlegend|#FF7F2A|&nbsp;breeding range}}{{leftlegend|#5F8DD3|&nbsp;nonbreeding range}}
| synonyms = ''Anas spectabilis'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}
}}

The '''king eider''' (pronounced {{IPAc-en|'|ai|.|d|@r}}) ('''''Somateria spectabilis''''') is a large [[Merginae|sea duck]] that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast [[Europe]], [[North America]] and [[Palearctic|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 four to seven eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down.

== 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" />

== Description ==
The king eider is a large sea duck, measuring {{convert|50|–|70|cm|abbr=on}} in length with a [[wingspan]] of {{convert|86|–|102|cm|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Ogilvie" /> Males are, on average, heavier than females, with a mean weight of {{convert|1.668|kg|lb|abbr=on}} for males and {{convert|1.567|kg|lb|abbr=on}} for females.<ref name="Dunning" /> An individual bird's mass can vary considerably from season to season—from as little as {{convert|0.9|kg|lb|abbr=on}} to as much as {{convert|2.2|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Nuttall" /> Like all eiders, the species is [[sexually dimorphic]]; the male is slightly larger<ref name = "Madge"/> and, in breeding [[plumage]], much more colourful than the female.<ref name="Nuttall" /> The male is unmistakable with its mostly black body, buff-tinged white breast and multicoloured head. The head, nape and neck are a pale bluish grey. The cheek is pale green. The bill, separated from the face by a thin black line, is red with a white [[Beak#Nail|nail]] and a large, distinctive yellow knob. Some [[Flight feather#Tertials|tertials]] are curved up and form "spurs" along the back.<ref name=BOC />

The female (occasionally colloquially referred to as a "queen eider")<ref name = "Gordon"/> is a warm brown colour overall, slightly paler on the head and neck. The [[feather]]s on her upperparts and flanks are marked with blackish [[wiktionary:chevrons|chevrons]], while those on her neck and head bear fine black streaks. She has a buffy spot at the base of her bill and a buffy eye ring which extends into a downward curving stripe behind her eye.<ref name = "Ogilvie"/> Her bill is variously described as black<ref name = "Dunne"/> or grey, and her legs and feet are greenish grey.<ref name = "Ogilvie"/>

Juvenile birds are greyish brown. Late in their first autumn, young males moult into a darker plumage, with white on the breast and rump; it takes them three years to achieve full adult plumage.<ref name = "Ogilvie"/>

== Habitat and range ==
The king eider is [[wiktionary:circumpolar|circumpolar]], found throughout the [[Arctic]].<ref name = "Newton"/> It breeds on the Arctic coast of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, [[Svalbard]] and Russia, using a variety of [[tundra]] habitats.<ref name = "Ogilvie"/> It [[bird migration|winters]] in arctic and subarctic marine areas, most notably in the Bering Sea, the west coast of Greenland, eastern [[Canada]] and northern [[Norway]]. Wintering birds can form large flocks on suitable coastal waters, with some flocks exceeding 100,000 birds. It also occurs annually off the northeastern [[United States]], [[Scotland]] and [[Kamchatka Peninsula|Kamchatka]].

== Behaviour ==

=== Food and feeding ===
The king eider's foraging strategies change depending on the season. For much of the year, it is at sea; there, it dives for [[benthic zone|benthic]] invertebrates. During the breeding season, it does more of its foraging on freshwater lakes and ponds, where it dabbles, feeding primarily on small invertebrates plucked from the surface of the water.<ref name="Oppel" /> It feeds  on mollusks, crustaceans like king crabs, and on sea urchins, starfish and sea anemones.

=== Breeding ===
The female builds a [[bird nest#Scrape|scrape nest]] on the ground, usually near water. She lines it with vegetation and [[down feather]]s from her own body. She lays a [[clutch (eggs)|clutch]] of {{nowrap|2–7 eggs}}, which she alone [[Egg incubation|incubates]] for 22 to {{nowrap|23 days}}.<ref name = "AllBirdsLife"/> The young are raised collectively by the females.<ref name=BOC />

=== Voice ===
The male's song is a quavering, dove-like cooing, transcribed as ''croo-croo-croo''<ref name = "Kear"/> or ''hoo-hoo-hooo''.<ref name = "Ogilvie"/> The female makes a variety of low clucks,<ref name = "Ogilvie"/> grunts and growls.<ref name = "Kear"/>

=== Longevity ===
The oldest known king eider was a female that lived at least 18 years 11 months. She was [[bird ringing|ringed (banded)]] as an adult south of [[Gambell, Alaska]] in 1940, and shot in 1958 in [[Utqiagvik, Alaska]].<ref name="Clapp" />

== Conservation and threats ==
Due to its large population and vast range, the king eider is listed as a species of [[least concern]] by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]].<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> The king eider is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ([[AEWA]]) applies.

As eggs and young, king eiders have many predators, including [[glaucous gull]], [[common raven]], [[parasitic jaeger]] and [[Arctic fox]].<ref name = "Phillips"/>

== Traditional uses ==
The king eider, or ''qengallek'' (pronounced [qə.ˈŋaː.ɬək]) in [[Yup'ik]], is a regular source of fresh meat in the spring. They begin their migration past the [[Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta]] in late April and are hunted in great numbers. In May, several hundred thousand king eiders pass Point Barrow in northern Alaska on their way to Alaskan and Canadian breeding grounds.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:King Eiders.jpg|King eiders (male and female) in natural habitat in [[Alaska]] wildlife refuge
File:Somateria spectabilis (King Eider - Prachteiderente) - Weltvogelpark Walsrode 2012-15.jpg|The conspicuous head of a male
File:Somateria spectabilis (King Eider - Prachteiderente) - Weltvogelpark Walsrode 2012-43.jpg|The gait of a king eider at [[Weltvogelpark Walsrode]] (Walsrode Bird Park)
File:King Eider RWD.jpg|Female at [[Alaska Sea Life Center]], Seward, Alaska
Somateria spectabilis MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.27.3.jpg| ''Somateria spectabilis'' - [[MHNT]]
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2|refs=
<ref name = "AllBirdsLife">{{cite web | title = All About Birds: King Eider Life History | url = http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/King_Eider/lifehistory | publisher = [[Cornell Lab of Ornithology]] |access-date = 25 May 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=BOC>{{cite book |last=Godfrey |first=W. Earl |date=1966 |title=The Birds of Canada |location=Ottawa |publisher=National Museum of Canada |page=77}}</ref>
<ref name="Clapp">{{cite journal | title = Longevity Records of North American Birds: Gavidae through Alcidae | first1 = Roger B. | last1 = Clapp | first2 = M. Kathleen | last2 = Klimkiewicz | first3 = John H. | last3 = Kennard | journal = Journal of Field Ornithology | volume = 53 | issue = 2 | date = Spring 1982 | pages = 81–124 | url = https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jfo/v053n02/p0081-p0124.pdf| jstor = 4512701 }}</ref>
<ref name="Dict">{{cite encyclopedia | title = Eider | url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eider | dictionary = Merriam-Webster | access-date = 13 May 2015}}</ref>
<ref name = "Dunne">{{cite book | first = Pete | last = Dunne | title = Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion | year = 2006 | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | location = New York, NY, US | page = 68 | isbn = 978-0-618-23648-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ISgKT2ehj7oC&pg=PT68}}</ref>
<ref name="Dunning">{{cite book | title = CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses | edition = 2nd | year = 2008 | first = John B. | last = Dunning Jr. | publisher = CRC Press | location = Boca Raton, FL, US | page = 45 | isbn = 978-1-4200-6444-5}}</ref>
<ref name = "Gordon">{{cite book | title = Amid Snowy Wastes: Wild Life on the Spitsbergen Archipelago | first = Seton Paul | last = Gordon | location = London, UK | publisher = Cassell & Company | page = [https://archive.org/details/amidsnowywastes00gordgoog/page/n146 90] | year = 1922 | lccn = 23008883 | url = https://archive.org/details/amidsnowywastes00gordgoog}}</ref>
<ref name="HBW621">Carboneras (1992), p. 621.</ref>
<ref name="ITIS">{{cite web | title = ITIS Report: ''Somateria'' | url = https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=175160 | publisher = [[Integrated Taxonomic Information System]] | access-date = 13 May 2015}}</ref>
<ref name = "Kear">{{cite book | title = Ducks, Geese and Swans | editor-first = Janet | editor-last = Kear | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford, UK | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-19-861009-0 | page = 698 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=D2K-9k-_EFcC&pg=PA698}}</ref>
<ref name = "Madge">{{cite book | title = Wildfowl | first = Steve | last = Madge | year = 1988 | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London, UK | pages = 262–263| isbn = 978-1-4081-3762-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gFawO8q9VfIC&pg=PA262}}</ref>
<ref name = "Newton">{{cite book | title = The Speciation and Biogeography of Birds | first = Ian | last = Newton | year = 2003 | publisher = Academic Press | location = London, UK | page = 305 | isbn = 978-0-12-517375-9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dYJ8CMm-zH0C&pg=PA305}}</ref>
<ref name="Nuttall">{{cite book | title = Encyclopedia of the Arctic | editor-first = Mark | editor-last = Nuttall |first = Maria | last = Gavrilo | contribution = King Eider | year = 2005 | publisher = Routledge | location = New York, NY, US | page = 1088 | isbn =  978-1-57958-436-8| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Swr9BTI_2FEC&pg=PA1088}}</ref>
<ref name="Ogilvie">{{cite book | title = Wildfowl of the World | first1 = Malcolm A. | last1 = Ogilvie | first2 = Steve | last2 = Young | year = 1998 | publisher = New Holland Publishers | location = London, UK | page = 150 | isbn = 978-1-84330-328-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RT8qww1cyUMC&pg=PA150}}</ref>
<ref name="Oppel">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1525/cond.2011.100077| title = King Eider Foraging Effort During the Pre-Breeding Period in Alaska| journal = The Condor| volume = 113| issue = 1| pages = 52–60| year = 2011| last1 = Oppel | first1 = Steffen | last2 = Powell | first2 = Abby N. | last3 = Butler | first3 = Malcolm G.  |jstor=10.1525/cond.2011.100077| s2cid = 85944789| doi-access = free}}</ref>
<ref name = "Phillips">{{cite journal | journal = The Wilson Journal of Ornithology | first1 = Laura M. | last1 = Phillips | first2 = Abby N. | last2 = Powell | title = Brood Rearing Ecology of King Eiders on the North Slope of Alaska | volume = 121 | issue = 2 | date = June 2009 | pages = 430–434 | jstor = 20616919 | doi=10.1676/08-125.1| s2cid = 84249667 }}</ref>
<ref name="Sandrock">{{cite book | title = The Scientific Nomenclature of Birds in the Upper Midwest | first1 = James | last1 = Sandrock | first2 = Jean C.  | last2 = Prior | year = 2014 | publisher = University of Iowa Press | location = Iowa Press, IA, US | page = 134 | isbn = 978-1-60938-225-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GsTpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA134}}</ref>
<ref name="Smith">{{cite book | title = The Birds of Wiltshire | first = Alfred Charles | last = Smith | year = 1887 | location = London, UK | publisher = R. H. Porter | page = 485 | url = https://archive.org/stream/birdsofwiltshire00smitrich#page/484/mode/2up/search/king+drake}}</ref>
<ref name="Trefry">{{cite journal | journal = Arctic | title = A Common Eider X King Eider Hybrid Captured on the Kent Peninsula, Nunavut | first1 = Sarah A. | last1 = Trefry | first2 = D. Lynne | last2 = Dickson | first3 = Andrea K. | last3 = Hoover | volume = 60 | issue = 3 | pages = 251–254 | date = September 2007  | jstor = 40512893 | doi = 10.14430/arctic217 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.661.615 }}</ref>
}}

=== Cited works ===
* {{cite book | title = Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks | year = 1992 | editor-first = Josep | editor-last = del Hoyo | editor2-first = Andrew | editor2-last = Elliott | editor3-first = Jordi | editor3-last = Sargatal | publisher = Lynx Edicions | location = Barcelona, Spain | chapter = Family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese and Swans) | first = Carles | last = Carboneras | pages = [https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/536 536–628] | isbn = 978-84-87334-10-8 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/536 }}
* {{cite web |last=Suydam |first=R. |year=2000 |title=King Eider |url=http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/491/articles/introduction |work=Birds of North America |number=491}}
* {{cite web |publisher=University of Alaska Fairbanks |url=http://mercury.bio.uaf.edu/kingeider |title=King Eider project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115041510/http://mercury.bio.uaf.edu/kingeider/KIEI_Home.htm |archive-date=15 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Merkel |first1=F. |first2=A. |last2=Mosbech |first3=S. |last3=Jamieson |first4=K. |last4=Falk |year=2007 |title=The diet of king eiders wintering in Nuuk, Southwest Greenland, with reference to sympatric wintering common eiders |journal=Polar Biology |volume=30 |issue=12 |pages=1593–1597 |url=https://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/papers/MerkeletalPolarBio07KIEI.pdf |doi=10.1007/s00300-007-0321-z|bibcode=2007PoBio..30.1593M |s2cid=23321060 }}
* {{cite report |last=Larned |first=W.W. |year=2007 |title=Steller's Eider spring migration surveys Southwest Alaska 2007 |pages=23 |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Migratory Bird Management Office |location=Anchorage, Alaska |url=http://www.fws.gov/alaska/mbsp/mbm/waterfowl/surveys/pdf/swstrp07.pdf |access-date=2015-03-14 |archive-date=2017-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430081851/https://www.fws.gov/alaska/mbsp/mbm/waterfowl/surveys/pdf/swstrp07.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Suydam |first1=R.S. |first2=D.L. |last2=Dickson |first3=J.B. |last3=Fadely |first4=L.T. |last4=Quakenbush |year=2000 |title=Population declines of King and Common Eiders of the Beaufort Sea |journal=Condor |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=219–222 |jstor=1370428 |doi=10.2307/1370428}}

=== Identification and ageing ===
* {{cite journal |last=Chandler |first=R.J. |year=1987 |title=Identification and ageing of first-winter male King Eider |journal=[[British Birds (magazine)|British Birds]] |volume=80 |issue=12 |pages=626–627}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ellis |first=Pete |year=1994 |title=Ageing and sexing of King Eiders |journal=[[British Birds (magazine)|British Birds]] |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=36–37}}
* {{cite journal |last=Dawson |first=Jane |year=1994 |title=Ageing and sexing of King Eiders |journal=[[British Birds (magazine)|British Birds]] |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=37–40}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Suddaby |first1=D. |first2=K.D. |last2=Shaw |first3=P.M. |last3=Ellis |first4=Keith |last4=Brockie |others=on behalf of the [[British Birds Rarities Committee|Rarities Committee]] |year=1994 |title=King Eiders in Britain and Ireland in 1958–90: occurrences and ageing |journal=[[British Birds (magazine)|British Birds]] |volume=87 |issue=9 |pages=418–430 |url=http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/article/king-eiders-in-britain-and-ireland-in-1958-90-occurrences-and-ageing/ |access-date=2015-03-14 |archive-date=2019-08-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821233158/https://britishbirds.co.uk/article/king-eiders-in-britain-and-ireland-in-1958-90-occurrences-and-ageing/ |url-status=dead }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Somateria spectabilis}}
{{Wikispecies|Somateria spectabilis}}
* [http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/king.eider.html King eider text, map and photographs] at [http://www.oiseaux.net/ Oiseaux.net]
* {{BirdLife|22680409|Somateria spectabilis}}
* {{Avibase|name=Somateria spectabilis}}
* {{InternetBirdCollection|king-eider-somateria-spectabilis}}
* {{VIREO|King+Eider}}
* {{IUCN Map|22680409/166207567|Somateria spectabilis}}
* {{Xeno-canto species|Somateria|spectabilis|King eider}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q207846}}
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[[Category:Somateria|king eider]]
[[Category:Birds of the Arctic]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758|king eider]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|king eider]]
[[Category:Extant Pleistocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Holarctic birds]]