A-KingEiderDrake10

Photo Study Of A King Eider Drake And Some Other Sea Ducks At The Avalon Seawall, December 24th, 2011

    My wife gave me a great Christmas present this year. I was allowed to go birding on the day of Christmas eve. Karl Lukens alerted me to the
    King Eider and other sea ducks at Avalon with his wonderful photos earlier this week. So I took a chance today and was not disappointed. The
    large raft of ducks was as described and actively feeding in the waters adjacent to the jetty and sea wall. The bright sunshine didn't hurt the
    picture taking either. Here are some of today's photos:

King Eider Drake

King Eider Drake

King Eider Drake

King Eider Drake

King Eider Drake

King Eider Drake Dives Showing Top Of Folded Left Wing

King Eider Drake Dives

King Eider Drake Stretches Wings

King Eider Drake

       The King Eider (Somateria spectablilis) is a large sea duck that breeds along the Arctic coasts of northeastern
     Europe, North America and Asia.The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at the higher
     latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay 4-7 eggs in a scrape on the ground
     lined with grass and down. The adult male is spectacular with his rather over-sized looking blue-gray head
     bearing a reddish-orange bill and large bright yellow basal knob. Black lines demarcate areas of color on the
     head. Its breast is a pinkish orange and the rest of its body is mainly dark brown or black, with a white patch
     on the side of the vent, and a horizontal white line on the flanks. The longer tertial feathers along the King
     Eider's upper flanks have triangular extensions that are held aloft by the bird to form a sail-like projection on
     its back. There are few, if any, other waterfowl that can match the King Eider for beauty and elegance. The
     adult female has warm reddish brown, marbled plumage and a dark gray bill. Juveniles are similar to the adult
     female. Male King Eiders are 18-25 inches long and weigh an average of 3.6 to 4 pounds. At sea, adult King
     Eiders utilize their superior diving skills to reach depths of 180 feet. They obtain foods similar to the Common
     Eiders, such as bivalve mollusks, crabs and echinoderms (especially Sand dollars and Sea urchins). Eelgrass
     (Zostera marina) is thought to be one of the few plant foods of major importance to King Eiders.
                                                                                                  (Cornell BNA; Wikipedia; Sibley Guide To Birds)

Common Eider Pair In Breeding Plumage

1st Winter Common Eider Drake

Common Eider Drake Breeding Plumage

Common Eider Hen Breeding Plumage

A Raft Of Common Eiders

A Raft Of Feeding Surf Scoters

Surf Scoter Pair

Surf Scoter Drake

Common Loon

To see a larger image of any of the King Eider photos below,
please click on either the thumbnails or the captions...thanks!


KingEiderDrake1	KingEiderDrake2	KingEiderDrake3	KingEiderDrake4	KingEiderDrake5

KingEiderDrake6	KingEiderDrake7	KingEiderDrake8	KingEiderDrake9	KingEiderDrake10

KingEiderDrake11	KingEiderDrake12	KingEiderDrake13	KingEiderDrake14	KingEiderDrake15

To see a larger image of any of the other Avalon Sea Duck photos below, please click on either the thumbnails or the captions...thanks!


CommonEiderDrake	CommonEiderDrake2	CommonEiderDrakes	CommonEiderHen	CommonEiderPair

CommonEidersFeeding	CommonEiderDrakes2	Long-tailedDrake WinterPlumage	1stWinterSurfScoter	SurfScoterDrake

SurfScoterDrake2	ThreeSurfScoterDrakes	BlackScoterHen

� Howard B. Eskin 2011 Please click here to email your comments to <hbeskin@voicenet.com> Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index