Steller's Eider Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A rather small, compact diving duck with a rather large head, a long, heavy bill, and a fairly long tail.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Harlequin Duck, smaller than a Common Eider.

  crow-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
• Color Pattern

  Adult males are orange-buff below with a white head, a black eye spot, and moss-green patches on the hindcrown and in front of the eye. The tail is black and the back and wings are blue-black with white feather edges. Females are mostly rich dark brown to cinnamon, with a diffuse white eyering. First-winter males are like females but paler brown. All plumages have white underwings. Speculum (secondary feathers) is blue edged in white.

• Behavior

  Forages by dabbling or tipping up to strain prey in the bill; or by diving to catch deeper prey. Forms flocks when not breeding but seldom mixes with other species. Groups of males court single females on both wintering and breeding grounds with elaborate displays.

• Habitat

  Nests in the High Arctic in coastal tundra sedge marshes with many small freshwater ponds. Migrates to coastal lagoons on the Alaska Peninsula to molt. Winters mostly in the Aleutian Islands in similar lagoons and coastal bays.