King Eider
Somateria spectabilis
A fantastic sea duck of the high Arctic. Breeding male is particularly shocking, as if you left a child unsupervised with a set of paints; it would be very difficult to mistake this bird for anything else. At a distance, look for black back with “sails” sticking up, powdery-blue nape, and enormous orange knob on the face. Immature male is variable but usually dark brown or blackish overall with paler breast and orange bill. Female is buffy-brown with a blackish bill shaped to look like she’s smiling. Extensive breeding range across the Arctic tundra; winters at slightly lower latitudes, rarely as far south as the mid-Atlantic states of the U.S. Most often seen singly or in small flocks on the ocean, often mixed with Common Eider or other sea ducks. Rare on inland lakes, but more regular inland than Common Eider. Females and young males more regularly seen further south than adult males.
识别特征
The king eider is a large sea duck, measuring 50–70 cm (20–28 in) in length with a wingspan of 86–102 cm (34–40 in). Males are, on average, heavier than females, with a mean weight of 1.668 kg (3.68 lb) for males and 1.567 kg (3.45 lb) for females. An individual bird's mass can vary considerably from season to season—from as little as 0.9 kg (2.0 lb) to as much as 2.2 kg (4.9 lb). Like all eiders, the species is sexually dimorphic; the male is slightly larger and, in breeding plumage, much more colourful than the female. 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 nail and a large, distinctive yellow knob. Some tertials are curved up and form "spurs" along the back.<p>The female (occasionally colloquially referred to as a "queen eider") is a warm brown colour overall, slightly paler on the head and neck. The feathers on her upperparts and flanks are marked with blackish 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. Her bill is variously described as black or grey, and her legs and feet are greenish grey.<p>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.
分类信息
When he first described the king eider in 1758, in the 10th edition of his opus Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus assigned it to the genus Anas, along with the rest of the ducks. In 1819, William Elford Leach moved it and the other large eiders to the genus Somateria, where it has remained since. It is very closely related to the other members of its genus, and is known to hybridise with the common eider. Despite its very large range, it is monotypic.<p>The genus name Somateria is a combination of the 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. The specific name spectabilis is Latin for "showy", "remarkable" or "worth seeing", a reference to the handsomeness of the adult male's plumage. The bird's common name, king eider, is a direct translation of its Icelandic name. It is called "king" because of the orange, crown-like knob above the male's bill; the male's multicoloured plumage also suggests royal robes. "Eider" is a Dutch, German or Swedish word derived from the Icelandic word æður (meaning eider), itself derived from the Old Norse æthr.
- 学名
- Somateria spectabilis
- 命名信息
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- 目
- Anseriformes
- 科
- Anatidae
- 属
- Somateria
分布与栖息地
The king eider is circumpolar, found throughout the Arctic. It breeds on the Arctic coast of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Svalbard and Russia, using a variety of tundra habitats. It 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.
- 繁殖区
- NA, PAL : coastal n, c Greenland, Svalbard (n of Norway), Russia from e of the White Sea to Chukotka (ne Russia); Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska, n slope of Canada and associated Arctic is.
- 非繁殖区
- to Kamchatka (se Russia) and Aleutian Is.; Newfoundland (se Canada), s Greenland, Iceland, and n Norway
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
行为
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
保护状况
Population trend: declining.
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Red-naped Fruit-Dove
Ptilinopus dohertyi
A large, striking fruit-dove with a dark lower body, a cream-colored head, and a diagnostic conspicuous red patch on the nape. Juveniles show yellow fringes to upperparts feathers and greenish feathers on head and breast. Usually encountered singly or in pairs in the upper levels of forest in lowlands and hills. Call is a low, disyllabic “wooo-hoo,” usually given repeatedly.
Hook-billed Kingfisher
Melidora macrorrhina
A fairly large, common kingfisher of wooded areas in the lowlands and foothills, even plantations. Very difficult to see. Thick, bicolored bill with a distinct hook, dark wing with large brown spots, black face with a pale stripe below the eye and a finely speckled crown. Much more often heard than seen. Calls pre-dawn and after dusk. Voice, an initial low note, followed by higher notes speeded up, “puuu! pipipi”. Sometimes sounding like dropping a ping pong ball on a table.
Indigo-winged Parrot
Hapalopsittaca fuertesi
Rare and endangered parrot restricted to high elevations in the central Andes of Colombia. Plumage is golden green with a sapphire crown; the blue and red in the wings and tail are usually evident when perched, and can be more striking when seen in flight. Usually encountered in groups of several to a dozen birds that fly from fruiting tree to fruiting tree in compact flocks. Formerly very difficult to find, but in recent years it has been reliably encountered along dirt roads high above the town of Santa Rosa de Cabal.
开始您的观鸟之旅
在户外识别鸟类，并在下一次观察时随手查阅鸟类图鉴。