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| Home > BirdFacts > waterfowl > King Eider | |
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| King Eider Somateria spectabilis [Linnaeus, 1758] | |
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Other Names
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Records
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Books & Links
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Order:
Anseriformes
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Family: Anatidae |
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BTO Codes:
KE , KINEI
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EURING No: 2070 | |
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Number in Britain:
2 records/year
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Conservation Status:
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View video clips from
IBC
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Status in UK:
(A) Scarce Visitor
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Subspecies:
Monotypic
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Length:
55 cm
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Wingspan: 94 cm |
Weight:
M/F: 1.8 kg
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Scientific name from:
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Gr.: soma=body + erion=wool and L.: spectabilis=remarkable |
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World Distribution:
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BREEDS: arctic Eurasia & North America, WINTERS: south to n Europe & c US |
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Habitat:
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Tundra ponds, lakes, on migration seacoasts |
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Diet:
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Molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms (eg starfish), mostly by diving |
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TitBit:
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The female King Eider does not feed very often during the 22-24 day incubation period. One female was not observed to leave her nest for seven days, until being flushed by an Arctic Fox. |
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| Records and Distribution | |
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First Record:
1832
(Suddaby, D. et al. 1994. British Birds 87:418-430)
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Total Number of Records (1958-2004):
115
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Summary of Records by Year
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Most Likely to Occur in:
October to May
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Most Recent County Records:
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Scotland:
Argyll
(2001),
Angus & Dundee
(1998),
Ayrshire
(2004),
Borders
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Clyde
(2003),
Dumfries & Galloway
(2004),
Fife
(2004),
Highland
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Lothian
(2001),
Moray & Nairn
(2001),
Northeast
(2004),
Outer Hebrides
,
Orkney
(1997),
Shetland
,
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North-east England:
Cleveland
(1998),
Northumberland
(1997),
East Yorkshire
(1846),
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North-west England:
Cumbria
(1980),
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English Midlands:
Derbyshire
,
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Eastern England:
Essex
(1977),
Norfolk
(2004),
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South-east England:
Kent
(1996),
Greater London
(2003),
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South-west England:
Cornwall
(2001),
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Wales:
Gwynedd
(1989),
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| Other Names | |
| Gaelic: | Welsh: Hwyaden Fwythblu'r Gogledd |
| Danish: Kongeederfugl | Dutch: Koningseider |
| Finnish: Kyhmyhaahka | French: Eider à tête grise |
| German: Prachteiderente | Hungarian: Cifra pehelyréce |
| Icelandic: Æðarkóngur | Irish: Éadar Taibhseach |
| Italian: Re degli edredoni | Norwegian: Praktærfugl |
| Polish: Turkan (edredon turkan) | Portuguese: Eider-real |
| Spanish: Eider real | Swedish: Praktejder |
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| For More Information... |
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Books and Monographs:
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| Kear, J 2005 Ducks, geese and swans Oxford University Press [598.48 KEA] |
| See Also: |
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All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
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Gough, G.A. et al. (1998) Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter
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Wikipedia entry
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Recent sightings and information from BirdGuides.com
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Find papers on Google Scholar
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Find papers on Scirus
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| These data should be cited as: | © British Trust for Ornithology, |
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