Éider de Anteojos

Identificación

Este pato marino ártico peculiar se reproduce en la tundra de Alaska y el extremo oriente de Rusia, e inverna en bandadas masivas entre el hielo flotante en el Mar de Bering. Los machos tienen una cabeza verde oliva única con 'gafas' blancas, un pecho oscuro y un pico de color naranja zanahoria. Las hembras son marrón en general con 'gafas' pálidas. Rara vez se le ve lejos de algunos sitios clave en Alaska, usualmente en pequeños números. Compare con otras especies de eideres; incluso las hembras jóvenes más apagadas tienen el patrón de 'gafas' pálido en la cabeza.

Taxonomía

Nombre científico

Somateria fischeri

Autoridad

(Brandt, JF, 1847)

Orden

Anseriformes

Familia

Anátidos

Género

Somateria

Distribución y hábitat

Currently, spectacled eiders occur along the coast of Alaska and easternmost Russia and into the Bering Sea. There are two breeding populations in Alaska and one in Russia. Historically there were more breeding individuals in Alaska but more recently the Russian population is much larger. Currently the United States population is an estimated 3,000–4,000 nesting pairs<p>The spectacled eider molts at sea anywhere from 2 to 45 kilometers (1.2 to 28.0 mi) from the shore and north of 63°N. Since they are rarely seen outside of their breeding grounds, their wintering grounds in the Bering Sea were not known until recently with the help of satellite telemetry in 1995.

Área de cría

NA, PAL : nc, ne Siberia from Lena Delta to Chukotka; w, n Alaska in Yukon Delta and Arctic Coastal Plain

Área no reproductiva

polynyas (ice-free seas) between St. Lawrence and St. Matthew is. (n Bering Sea)

Migración

Complete migrants

Conservación

The spectacled eider was listed as Threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1993 but remains listed as under Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The Red List keep the listing in this category because the spectacled eider does not meet the range size criterion or the population trend criterion. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service originally listed the spectacled eider as Threatened because of a more than 96% drop in breeding population size in Alaska. With this listing and protection from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1991, it is illegal to harvest any individuals through either sport or subsistence hunting.

Tendencia poblacional

declining