Eiders are sea ducks, which means that they live in coastal areas where they dabble for small invertebrates or dive for crustaceans and molluscs. Steller's eiders nest on the arctic and subarctic tundra. These birds are sexually dimorphic, so males generally look very different from females. Click on the images below to discover the advantages of different colors on the tundra:
Steller's eiders are migratory and winter comes early on the Alaskan tundra. Before ice covers the ponds and coastal waters near the Steller's beeding grounds, the birds must travel south to areas where the coast doesn't freeze over, allowing them to access food resources in the ocean.
Watch the video to learn where the Steller's eiders of Alaska travel throughout the year.
VIDEO: Annual Cycle of Steller's Eiders in Alaska
Discover the life history of Steller's eiders in Alaska. (2:44)
In Alaska, Steller’s eiders spend the winter on the coast along the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Kodiak Archipelago.
As spring arrives, the birds wait for the sea ice to melt along their migratory paths. Before they migrate, the males begin to dance. All efforts are geared toward finding a mate.
Then, the Steller’s eiders that winter in Alaska diverge into two separate breeding populations. Most of them fly northwest to breed and nest in Russia. Others fly north to breed and nest near Barrow, Alaska. These birds comprise the Alaskan breeding population. Historically, Steller’s eiders also nested on the Yukon-Kuskokwim, or Y-K Delta. Now Steller’s eiders are a rare sight on the Y-K Delta, and very few Steller’s nests have been discovered there in the past several decades.
In late May or early June the Steller’s Eiders reach their breeding grounds on the arctic tundra. By late June the hens are ready to make a nest on the tundra in close proximity to tundra ponds. The males stay around to guard while the females construct elaborate grass nests lined with cozy down feathers. The end result is so well camouflaged that it virtually disappears into the tundra.
By early July the Steller’s hens will lay up to 9 olive-brown eggs. While the females tend to their eggs, the males leave to travel south and return to their molting grounds. Adult eiders molt their flight feathers once each year, leaving them unable to fly for about a month as they grow new feathers. Males travel to protected bays and lagoons to molt before continuing on to their wintering sites.
Meanwhile, on the tundra the hens incubate their eggs up to 26 days before the ducklings hatch. Within 24 hours of hatching the ducklings leave the nest to follow their mother around the coastal tundra. In 5 to 7 weeks the young birds are able to fly.
Fall will soon give way to winter, so the mothers and their young must fly south to the molting and wintering grounds. The females reunite with the males and with the breeding population that spent its summer in Russia. And the annual cycle of the Steller’s eiders begins again.
Every species of bird has different requirements for successful nesting but, with so few of these birds in the wild and so little known about them, how will researchers know what Steller's eiders need? In captivity, these birds won’t have to worry about predators or the challenges of migration. But will the scientists be able to provide them with requirements they need to nest and raise ducklings hundreds of miles away from the tundra?
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CAMOUFLAGE (n) - concealment that alters or obscures the appearance; helps an organism to hide from its predators.
FORAGE (v) - to search for and collect food.
INCUBATE (v) - to keep an egg or organism at an appropriate temperature for it to develop.
IRIDESCENT (adj) - shining with many different colors when seen from different angles.
LIFE HISTORY (n) - the series of changes a living thing goes through during its lifetime.
MIGRATION (n) - seasonal movement from one area to another.
MOLT (v) - to lose a covering of hair, feathers, etc., and replace it with new growth.
PLUMAGE (n) - the feathers that cover the body of a bird.
SEXUAL DIMORPHISM (n) - when the male and female of the same species look distinctly different from one another.
