A few bird species, like Western grebes, eiders and mallards run along the water as a prelude to taking off.
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Murres and eiders were the most available sources of winter protein until the 1960s, when electricity and refrigeration changed eating habits.
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The murre hunt has a long tradition in Newfoundland, where seabirds, from great auks to eiders, provided sailors with much-needed protein after the long voyage from Europe.
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I found no harlequins, but did see rafts of eiders, plenty of loons, a dozen long-tailed ducks, many cormorants, a few red-breasted mergansers and a single black scoter.
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It is also the locus for millions of migrating birds, arriving each spring from nearly every continent on Earth to raise the next generation of swans, terns, sandpipers, loons, eiders, and others.
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As the Arctic warms over the coming decades, animals that depend on the sea ice habitat—such as polar bears, walruses, and eiders—will retreat to the Last Ice Area's borders to survive.
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Retrieved 2016-08-18. as do beluga whales. Marine birds also migrate through this corridor, including Steller’s eiders,Martin, P. D., D. C. Douglas, and T. Obritschkewitsch, ["Distribution and movements of Steller's eiders in the non- breeding period"], Unpublished manuscript, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey, Fairbanks, AK. 2009. king eiders,Oppel, S., D. L. Dickson, and A. N. Powell, "International importance of the eastern Chukchi Sea as a staging area for migrating king eiders", "Polar Biology 32", May 2009.
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Eiders were the leading prey species in Norway making 18.8% of 1612 prey items, as well as in the Åland Islands, Finland where the eider comprised 18.63% of 5161 prey items (thus nearly a thousand eiders were taken here). Eiders also appeared to be the main prey species in Iceland.Ingólfsson, A. 1961. The distribution and breeding ecology of the White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla (L.) in Iceland.
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This relatedness has likely played a role in the evolution of co-operative breeding behaviours amongst eiders. Examples of these behaviours include laying eggs in the nests of related individuals and crèching, where female eiders team up and share the work of rearing ducklings.
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East Pen is classified as an IBA site, protecting Hudsonian godwits, red knots, black scoters, snow geese, and common eiders.
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Many species of birds, including yellow-billed loons, king eiders, Arctic terns, black-legged kittiwakes, glaucous and Sabine's gulls, king eiders, long-tailed ducks, and red phalaropes, are found in Smith Bay.Smith M., Walker N., Free C., Kirchhoff M., Drew G., Warnock N., and Stenhouse I., "Identifying marine Important Bird Areas using at-sea survey data", Biological Conservation, 2014. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
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Spectacled eiders have a fairly rapid development to be such large birds; it only takes about 53 days or less before they can fly.
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The Alaska SeaLife Center specializes in marine mammal and sea bird research on species including Steller sea lions, eiders, harbor seals, sea otters, fur seals and other species experiencing population declines in Alaska. Research strives to develop cutting-edge technology and techniques, while minimizing impact on the species and environment being studied. The Science Department currently includes dedicated programs for pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), eiders, sea otters, and salmon.
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Internationally important populations of common redshank overwinter on the estuary, along with nationally important numbers of cormorants, eiders, goldeneyes, oystercatchers, red-breasted mergansers, red-throated divers and scaups.
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Eiders are colonial breeders. They nest on coastal islands in colonies ranging in size of less than 100 to upwards of 10,000-15,000 individuals. Female eiders frequently exhibit a high degree of natal philopatry, where they return to breed on the same island where they were hatched. This can lead to a high degree of relatedness between individuals nesting on the same island, as well as the development of kin-based female social structures.
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Taken more preferentially where they occur are common eiders. When hunting eiders, perhaps the largest of diving ducks at a mean weight of , white-tailed eagles frequently force the eider to dive repeatedly until it is exhausted and can be captured. When sitting on the nest, the female common eider will try to escape in flight but is a relatively weak and ponderous flier and so too may be often victimized by the eagles.
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A number of rare lichens and polyporales can be found in the nature reserve surrounding the lake, along with the Cochlicopa nitens land snail. The islands in the lake have a large colony of eiders.
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In 2005 the reserve held a population of over 5000 eiders but has since suffered losses and in 2019 recorded a spring peak of 1323 eiders. The cliffs in the northern part of the reserve host breeding colonies of many seabirds, including northern fulmar, shag, cormorant, kittiwake and razorbill. Raptor species such as short-eared owls, kestrel, sparrowhawk, osprey and buzzard are also regularly seen, and in total 255 species of bird have been recorded at Forvie.The Story of Forvie National Nature Reserve. p. 15.
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This coast is a breeding ground for large colonies of eiders and other seabirds. Mammals include moose (Alces alces), American black bear (Ursus americanus), Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), snowshoe hare and grey wolf.
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The corridor is likely used by many bird species migrating to the North Slope for summer breeding.Oppel, S., D. L. Dickson, and A. N. Powell, "International importance of the eastern Chukchi Sea as astaging area for migrating king eiders", Polar Biology, 2009. Retrieved 20-09-2016. Several species of birds, including yellow-billed loons, spectacled eiders, king eiders, Arctic terns, black-legged kittiwakes, glaucous and Sabine's gulls, long-tailed ducks, and red phalaropes, rely on areas near the shoreline along the canyon for foraging.Schmutz, J. A. and D. J. Rizzolo, "Monitoring Marine Birds of Concern in the Eastern Chukchi Nearshore Area (Loons)", USGS and BOEM, 2012. Retrieved 20-09-2016.Smith, M. A., N. J. Walker, C. M. Free, M. J. Kirchhoff, G. S. Drew, N. Warnock, and I. J. Stenhouse,"Identifying marine Important Bird Areas using at-sea survey data", Biological Conservation, 2014. Retrieved 20-09-2016.
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Custer, T.W. (1973). Snowy Owl predation on lapland longspur nestlings recorded on film. Auk. 90(2): 433–435. Drake eiders of often similar size to the owls themselves are not infrequently the largest prey amongst remains around the nest mound.
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One nest had the bodies of all eiders that attempting to nest in the vicinity around it.Dorogoy, I.V . (1987). Ecology of small mammal predators in Wrangel Island and their role in the dynamics of lemming numbers. Vladivostok: DVO AN SSSR.
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The waters of the Colville delta, along with the waters of Harrison Bay, make an ideal refuge for long-tailed ducks, king eiders, red-throated loons, Arctic terns, surf scoters, brant geese, and glaucous gulls.Smith, M., N. J. Walker, I. J. Stenhouse, C. M. Free, M. Kirchhoff, O. Romanenko, S. Senner, N. Warnock, and V. Mendenhall, ["A new map of Important Bird Areas in Alaska"], 16th Alaska Bird Conference, Juneau, AK, 2014. Retrieved 15-09-2016. In summer and fall, migrating red-throated and yellow-billed loons and king and spectacled eiders stop in to rest and feed.
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The vegetation is moss tundra, formed by centuries of accumulated reindeer excrement. The reserve has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding populations of barnacle and brent geese, king eiders. purple sandpipers and glaucous gulls.
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Male, Sandford, Tasmania, Australia Adult males are long and have a distinctive large, leathery lobe underneath the bill; females are long and unadorned. Their drab dark grey- brown, slightly pin-striped plumage is inconspicuous and does not differ between the sexes. This species weighs an average of in males and in females, with the smallest females weighing only and the largest males weighing up to . On average, they are the second-heaviest diving duck in the world after the common eider, with male musk ducks actually being slightly heavier than male common eiders, but female eiders being rather larger than female musk ducks due to that species' lesser size sexual dimorphism.
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B.Sc. (Hons.) thesis. University of Aberdeen. There is evidence that a growing white-tailed eagle population is having a net negative effect on eider numbers in some areas, and locally eiders have altered to partial nocturnal foraging apparently to avoid hunting eagles.Ravn Merke, F., & Mosbech, A. (2008).
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Diurnal and nocturnal feeding strategies in common eiders. Waterbirds, 31(4), 580-586.Hipfner, M. J., Blight, L. K., Lowe, R. W., Wilhelm, S. I., Robertson, G. J., Barrett, R., Anker-Nilssen, T. & Good, T. P. (2012). Unintended consequences: how the recovery of sea eagle Haliaeetus spp.
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This is the zoo's wetland bird aviary built on the site of the old Children's Farm's waterfowl lake. The aviary is home to a variety of birds including: grey crowned cranes, demoiselle cranes, sacred ibis, scarlet ibis, black-crowned night herons, Inca terns, African spoonbills, northern bald ibises and common eiders.
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Kilpi, M., & Öst, M. (2002). The effect of White-tailed Sea Eagle predation on breeding Eider females off Tvärminne, Western Gulf of Finland. Suomen Riista, 48, 27-33. Otherwise the pale plumage of adult male common eiders while they're diving is reported to make them more vulnerable to eagle attacks.
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Because of its location at the boundary between the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy, Machias Seal Island is fog-bound for many days of the year. It is also a sanctuary for seabirds such as Atlantic puffins, razorbills, common murres, common and Arctic terns, Leach's storm-petrels, and common eiders.
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The common eider is the object of the 2011 documentary People of a Feather, which studies the historical relationship between the Sanikiluaq community and eiders, as well as various aspects of their ecology. The common eider is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
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The threatened and declining Steller's eider (Polysticta stelleri) when nesting in the Barrow area would appear to avoid the vicinity of snowy owl nests when selecting their own nesting sites due to the predation risk.Quakenbush, L., Suydam, R., Obritschkewitsch, T., & Deering, M. (2004). Breeding biology of Steller's eiders (Polysticta stelleri) near Barrow, Alaska, 1991–99. Arctic, 166–182.
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There he found tools and barrels frozen up in the ice. White (1855), p. 23. Archaeological excavations have found the remains of five buildings and two double-ovens belonging to the station. Another station was found on Æøya (named after the common eiders that reside there), a small island on the eastern side of the bay.
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Tatiana Borisovna Ardamatskaya (; 25 October 1927 – 24 October 2011) was a Soviet-Ukrainian ornithologist and conservationist. She is known for her research on waterbirds and coastal birds of the Ukrainian Black Sea region and for her efforts to improve environmental protections for them. Her studies included Mediterranean gulls, swans, eiders, ducks, geese, and terns, among others.
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The king eider, or qengallek (pronounced [qə.ˈŋaː.ɬək]) in Yup'ik, is a regular source of fresh meat in the spring. They begin their migration past the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in late April and are hunted in great numbers. In May, several hundred thousand king eiders pass Point Barrow in northern Alaska on their way to Alaskan and Canadian breeding grounds.
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The eastern end of the island is subject to erosion. The island consists of a combination of sand dunes and salt marshes, woods and meadows, in addition to the salt pond. This mix of habitats supports a wide array of wildlife, mainly shorebirds and wading birds. John's Head is a significant nesting area for gulls, eiders, and guillemots.
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The waters of Harrison Bay make an ideal refuge for long-tailed ducks, king eiders, red-throated loons, Arctic terns, surf scoters, brant geese, and glaucous gulls.Smith, M., N. J. Walker, I. J. Stenhouse, C. M. Free, M. Kirchhoff, O. Romanenko, S. Senner, N. Warnock, and V. Mendenhall, ["A new map of Important Bird Areas in Alaska"], 16th Alaska Bird Conference, Juneau, AK, 2014. Retrieved 15-09-2016. In summer and fall, migrating red-throated and yellow-billed loons and king and spectacled eiders stop in to rest and feed.Smith, M., N. Walker, C. Free, M. Kirchhoff, N. Warnock, A. Weinstein, T. Distler, and I. Stenhouse, "Marine Important Bird Areas in Alaska: Identifying Globally Significant Sites Using Colony and At-sea Survey Data", Audubon Alaska: Anchorage, September 2012. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
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Ravens and buzzards are often to be seen. Golden eagles and hen harriers are rarer sights, usually in the winter. Wading birds on the shore include redshanks, sanderlings, turnstones, oyster catchers, dunlin, curlews, Eurasian whimbrels, ringed plovers and herons. Further out, around the shores of Berneray, are mallards, eiders, red-breasted mergansers, and, more rarely, black-throated and great northern divers.
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Ootheca Wolleyana: an illustrated catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs. Repressed Publishing LLC. Cases of white-tailed eagles eating eggs, instead of nestlings or older birds, is considered rare. Nonetheless, they have been recorded eating a few eggs, which they may carry in their beaks rather in their feet, of some seabirds such as kittiwakes, eiders, cormorants and gulls.
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Ravens and buzzards are often to be seen. Golden eagles and hen harriers are rarer sights, usually in the winter. Wading birds on the shore include redshanks, sanderlings, turnstones, oyster catchers, dunlin, curlews, whimbrels, ringed plovers and herons. Further out, around the shores of Berneray, are mallards, eiders, red-breasted mergansers, and, more rarely, black-throated and great northern divers.
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Isfjorden and Bellsund. Nordenskiöld Land is the land area between Isfjorden and Van Mijenfjorden on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The area is named after Finnish-Swedish explorer and geologist Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. The coastal region of Nordenskiöld Land (Nordenskiøldkysten) has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding populations of barnacle geese and common eiders.
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Usually while hunting like this, the white-tailed eagle tends to circle low to stay close to the intended victim, with birds diving in shallower water being preferred. Ducks with conspicuous plumage, such as male common eiders (Somateria mollissima), with their pale plumage, may be easier to see under water and so may be taken somewhat more via this hunting method. Beyond waterfowl, both loons and grebes have been seen to be successfully hunted in this way. Eagles were recorded doing between 7 and 12 attacks on eiders in Russia and were usually successful in procuring prey. Even as many as 65 passes have recorded in less than 45 minutes but more than a few attacks also start to exhaust the eagle, as one immature gave up after 15-28 attempts at a little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis).
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The reserve has been recognised as a wetland of international importance by designation under the Ramsar Convention. It has also been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International. It supports breeding populations of pink- footed and barnacle geese, common and king eiders, long-tailed ducks, purple sandpipers, red phalaropes, glaucous gulls, long-tailed jaegers and snow buntings. Ivory gulls have been recorded.
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Western end of Mandø Island viewed from top of perimeter dike The principal ecosystems on this island are: tidal marsh; mudflat; littoral zone; and upland grassland. In fact, there is about as much land area in mudflat as the considerable arable land of the island. Mandø Island is known for its extensive birdlife. Breeding birds consist of terns, sandpipers, many waders and ducks including eiders.
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200-300 tons of fuel oil were lost overboard, killing approximately 16.000 sea birds, predominantly common eiders. Only parts of the wreck could be salvaged to date, and the hull is still visible off Amrum. The case led to political discontent over a lack of coordinated emergency tow capabilities on the German coast, and contributed to the creation of the Havariekommando (sea damage command).
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Harbour seal The entire sea surrounding Föhr may also be designated an attraction. Mainly the foreland north of the sea dike, but also the mud flats provide ample space for all kinds of seabirds. Oystercatchers, common eiders, shelducks, snipes and peewits are only a few of them. Moreover, during the season vast swarms of migratory birds will rest at Föhr and the neighbouring islands.
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Elder bushes in the foreground growing over the freshwater spring. Much of the island's vegetation was lost in a 19th-century fire A mature lobster Apart from the large numbers of gulls, eiders nest on the island.Eider News Shags and oystercatchers are frequently seen. A population of rabbits survive with partially collapsed burrows criss-crossing the parts of the islet with have a significant depth of soil.
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The sanctuary is an important breeding site for King Eiders Kongsfjorden Bird Sanctuary () is a 140 ha bird reserve at Svalbard, Norway, established in 1973. It includes islands and islets in Kongsfjorden, Haakon VII Land. It lies at the inner end of the fjord and consists of about ten islands, mainly covered with grassy vegetation and having small freshwater ponds. The fjord is surrounded by steep mountains, cliffs, glaciers and tundra.
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Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus Somateria. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek sōma "body" and erion "wool", referring to eiderdown. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilts--they have given the name to the type of quilt known as an eiderdown.
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Not including the five species of salmon that inhabit the region, there are 27 species found in the waters, including Dolly Varden, Arctic grayling, and rainbow trout. The region's salmon are a primary subsistence source for locals, and provide a very important commercial and recreational fishery. Some 201 species of birds have been sighted on Togiak Refuge. Threatened species can occasionally be found here, including Steller's and spectacled eiders.
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Opposite Findhorn Village, the beach is home to a mixed colony of grey and common seals. Common eiders can be seen offshore and European herring gulls fly around the general area. On the southern side of the bay, there is a brackish pool frequented by waders such as the greenshank in migrant season. In the winter, the bay is home to a roost of at least 10,000 pink-footed geese.
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Gedser Odde is a good site for observing migratory birds, especially on windy days. Common eiders can be seen in large numbers around the point in the spring (from the end of March to the beginning of April) and autumn. It is not uncommon for as many as 40,000 per day to fly past. The common scoter is viewable throughout the year in flocks of as many as 3,000.
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Due to its large population and vast range, the king eider is listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The king eider is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. As eggs and young, king eiders have many predators, including glaucous gull, common raven, parasitic jaeger and Arctic fox.
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Tahiryuak Lake is a lake located in the Canadian Arctic's Northwest Territories. It is situated in northcentral Victoria Island, north of Prince Albert Sound, southeast of Minto Inlet. The lake is populated with silver charr It is designated as a Key Habitat Site because of the high density of nesting king eiders. In addition, notable populations of Arctic tern, cackling goose, long-tailed duck, Pacific loon, pomarine jaeger, and Sabine's gulls frequent the area.
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The park contains numerous colonies of seabirds, in addition to Svalbard reindeer and Arctic fox. It is also a hibernating area for polar bears, and walrus can be found there. About a third of the area, consisting mainly of its sea-cliffs, islands and other coastal features, has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding populations of barnacle and brent geese, common eiders and black guillemots.
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The Kagloryuak River is located on Victoria Island in Northern Canada, commencing in Nunavut and ending in the Northwest Territories. Starting from the central plains, it flows west into Prince Albert Sound. The Kagloryuak River Valley has a density of king eiders and Canada geese. In 2007, the Kagloryuak River Valley became a Key Migratory Bird Terrestrial Habitat Site The river is an important source of Arctic charr for the community of Holman.
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Peary caribou The severe climate limits soil and nutrient development, which in turn limits vegetation. This region has low vascular plant diversity and is dominated by herbaceous species. Plants include purple saxifrage, dwarf willow, sedges, grasses, lichens and mosses. Terrestrial wildlife species adapted to this environment include Peary caribou, muskoxen, wolves, Arctic foxes and bird species such as snowy owls, snow geese, king eiders, jaegers as well as various gulls and shorebirds.
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The king eider is a large sea duck, measuring in length with a wingspan of . Males are, on average, heavier than females, with a mean weight of for males and for females. An individual bird's mass can vary considerably from season to season—from as little as to as much as . Like all eiders, the species is sexually dimorphic; the male is slightly larger and, in breeding plumage, much more colourful than the female.
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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 The spectacled eider molts at sea anywhere from 2 to 45 kilometers from the shore and north of 63°N.
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There are multiple factors that threaten spectacled eider populations in the future including climate change and habitat loss. Historically their range was much larger than just the coast of Alaska and Russia. It also used to extend from the Nushagak Peninsula to Barrow and almost all the way to the Canadian border. Since spectacled eiders live in frigid areas that are not easily accessible to humans their main habitat loss has been a result of climate change.
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An expansion of the tracheal tube occurred at the anterior end, and two enlargements (as opposed to one enlargement as seen in scoters) were near the middle of the tube. The bulla was bony and round, puffing out from the left side. This asymmetrical and osseus bulla was unlike that of scoters; this bulla was similar to eiders and harlequin duck's bullae. The Labrador duck has been considered the most enigmatic of all North American birds.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquired Franklin Island in 1973, making this the first island acquired for the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Franklin Island once supported one of the largest common eider colonies in Maine. Unfortunately, the eider colony was decimated by avian cholera in the mid-1980s. The population has slowly recovered, and a 2003 survey documented over 330 pairs of eiders and over 100 pairs of great black- backed and herring gulls.
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Refuge islands provide habitat for common, Arctic, and endangered roseate terns; Atlantic puffins; razorbills; black guillemots; Leach's storm- petrels; herring, greater black-backed, and laughing gulls; double-crested and great cormorants; and common eiders. Over the last 25 years, the Service has worked to reverse the decline in these birds' populations. As a result, many species have returned to islands where they nested historically. In addition to seabirds, wading birds and bald eagles nest on refuge islands.
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It may occur in other situations. For example, female eiders would prefer to lay eggs in the nests with one or two existing eggs of others because the first egg is the most vulnerable to predators. The presence of others’ eggs reduces the probability that a predator will attack her egg when a female eider leaves the nest after laying the first egg. Sometimes, the parasitic offspring kills the host nest- mates during competition for resources.
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These three species form the subgenus Melanitta, distinct from the subgenus Oidemia, which contains the black scoter (Melanitta americana) and the common scoter (Melanitta nigra). The only extinct Melanitta species, M. cerutti, used to be present in California during the late Pliocene, but it has been moved in the genus Histrionicus (Harlequin duck). The genus Melanitta is part of the Mergini tribe, a monophyletic group of the Northern Hemisphere. It includes eiders, mergansers, goldeneyes and other sea ducks.
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Gannets (Sula sula) are common around the islands, but only breed on Mykines. Black guillemots (Cepphus grylle), eiders (Somateria mollissima) and shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) are common around the coast and the fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) which immigrated to the islands in the 19th century have a steadily growing population. There are six species of seagulls (Larus) and the storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus) colony on Nólsoy is the largest in the world. Inland birds are fewer in numbers.
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Common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in the breeding season on Texel, the Netherlands. The common eider (pronounced ) (Somateria mollissima), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea- duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on coastal waters. It can fly at speeds up to .
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Large flocks of pink-footed goose and greylag goose use the basin to roost in and feed in the surrounding farmland. As well as wintering eiders the basin supports a large breeding population. In all 213 species of bird have been recorded on the basin, most being winter visitors or passage migrants and just over 50 species are thought to breed. A visitor centre was opened on the south side of the basin at Rossie Braes by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in 1995.
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The park contains bird sanctuaries which protect islands with grassy vegetation, freshwater ponds and areas of bare rock. One of these is the Isøyane Bird Sanctuary which has also recognised as a wetland of international importance by designation under the Ramsar Convention. The park has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding populations of barnacle geese (850–950 pairs), common eiders (1000 pairs), black-legged kittiwakes (25,900 pairs) and thick-billed guillemots (over 200,000 pairs).
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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.
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When eating a crab, the eider will remove all of its claws and legs, and then eat the body in a similar fashion. It is abundant, with populations of about 1.5–2 million birds in both North America and Europe, and also large but unknown numbers in eastern Siberia (HBW). A particularly famous colony of eiders lives on the Farne Islands in Northumberland, England. These birds were the subject of one of the first ever bird protection laws, established by Saint Cuthbert in the year 676.
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MLÍKOVSKÝ, J. & STÝBLO, P.(Eds.): Ecology of the Svjatoj Nos wetlands, Lake Baikal.-Ninox Press, Praha: 79, 88. In Fennoscandia, they are attracted to coastal waters during winter to attack large numbers of diving ducks including eiders, common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), common (Mergus merganser) and red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator), tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula) and scoters. Year around in the Åland Islands, 66.2% of 5161 food items were birds, while in the 3 sites in different parts of Finland birds made up 51.1% of 3152 food items.
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Stuttgart & Ludwigsburg: Eugen Ulmer. However, the miscellaneous shells of marine mussels and snails found in Norway are probably usually consumed secondarily from the stomachs of eiders. An exceptional number of insects, amounting to 24% of food items by number, were found in the foods of white-tailed eagles in Augustów Primeval Forest, Poland, almost entirely Odonata. The source of this food is not clear as the white-tailed eagle is far too large and bulky a raptor to invest much time in pursuit of insects.
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Field observations and laboratory experiments suggest that ribbed bog moss has broad tolerance and may be relatively insensitive to macronutrient concentrations. On the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, ribbed bog moss grows on small "bird islands" where eiders, Arctic terns, and other migratory birds nest offshore of the main island, Spitsbergen. Nitrogen levels on the bird islands are very high. On Spitsbergen Island, however, ribbed bog moss grows on dry hummocks and moist hummock edges, both of which have low nitrogen levels but probably provide moisture levels that favor ribbed bog moss.
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Map of Izembek NWR and Wilderness Izembek Wilderness hosts a quarter-million migratory birds every fall, including the entire world's population of black brants and thousands of Canada and emperor geese, Steller's eiders, and various species of duck and shorebird. Izembek Lagoon contains one of the largest eelgrass beds in the world, providing food and shelter for the birds. Tundra swans live on the refuge year-round and thousands of gray, minke, and orca whales migrate along the coast. Hundreds of thousands of salmon spawn in the wilderness.
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The main wildlife consists of belugas, walrus, caribou, common eiders and snowy owls all of which can be seen on the island year round. There is also a wide variety of fish that can be caught such as Arctic char, cod, capelin, lump fish, and sculpin.Belcher Island Kayak Tour The historical relationship between the Sanikiluaq community and the eider is the subject of a feature-length Canadian documentary film called People of a Feather. The director, cinematographer and biologist Joel Heath, spent seven years on the project, writing biological articles on the eider.
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Overall at Wigry and Augustów, birds altogether made up 66.2% and 47.83% of the diets, respectively. In the Danube Delta, Romania, birds climbed in importance of the diet from 21% in 1970 to 50% by 2015, thanks largely to increased numbers of coots. Swimming male common eiders are a frequent quarry of white-tailed eagles. In total, about 38 species of waterfowl are known to be hunted, as well as all available species of loons and grebes, several types of rails, tubenoses as well as herons, storks and other assorted large waders.
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Russian documents from the 1600s list "bird down" among the goods sold to Dutch merchants, and communities in northern Norway began protecting the nests of eider ducks as early as 1890. Eiders are still "farmed" by people in Iceland, Scandinavia and Siberia. The birds are provided with nest sites and protected from predators, and down is collected intermittently during the nesting season without harming the nests or female ducks. The first collection is made roughly halfway through the incubation period, when some of high quality down is removed per nest.
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In 1949, she conducted research in the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve on the White Sea, extending her work on eiders. At the reserve, she attempted to develop domesticated hatcheries, which she had unsuccessfully tried to establish in Novaya Zemlya. Though successful, the group of chicks she brought back to Leningrad at the end of the season failed to thrive and all died. In 1952, Demme made her last trip to the Arctic, working in the northern parts of the Gulf of Ob in Siberia, and focusing on raising animals there.
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While these reserves exist officially, budgetary constraints in the early part of the 21st century resulted in inadequate funding. Ust-Tanyurensky is the only zakaznik in the district to employ a member of staff, and Lebediny zakaznik does not even appear as a separate item on the Game Department's budget. Tundrovy zakaznik was established specifically to protect migrating and nesting birds including eiders, swans, and several species of goose. Ust-Tanyurensky zakaznik protects a transitional area between woodland and tundra also containing swans, geese, and other migratory birds.
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Animals such as caribou, Arctic hares, Arctic ground squirrels, snowy owls, puffins, tundra swan, snow geese, Steller's eiders and willow ptarmigan all survive the harsh Arctic winters quite easily and some, like the willow ptarmigan, are only found in the Arctic region. The musk ox thrived during the ice age 10,000 years ago, but after the earth had warmed up and the ice had receded it was forced either to migrate northward to cold environments for it to live in, or go extinct as the woolly mammoth did.
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Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge is a island off the coast of Maine, United States near Matinicus Island that is part of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. During any given summer season, over 100 species of birds are observed by researchers on the island. It is home to colonies of many types of seabirds, including Atlantic puffins, double-crested cormorants, razorbills, Leach's storm petrels, eiders, and black guillemots. Seal Island is the last refuge for the dwindling great cormorant population in the Gulf of Maine, with 35 pairs in 2018.
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Birds that choose remote places can proliferate hugely, like the flamingos on an African soda lake. Meanwhile, during winter, the entire world population of spectacled eiders can be found in just a few assemblies on patches of the Arctic Ocean. The city is a relatively recent habitat, but many have become accustomed to it, such as the American black vultures in São Paulo. In Japan, crows have learned to crack nuts by dropping them on to pedestrian crossings — and waiting for the traffic to stop before collecting them.
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Ornithologist and pioneering bird photographer Emma Turner started ringing common terns on the Point in 1909, and the use of this technique for migration studies has continued since. A notable recovery was a Sandwich tern killed for food in Angola, and a Radde's warbler trapped for ringing in 1961 was only the second British record of this species at that time. In the winter, the marshes hold golden plovers and wildfowl including common shelduck, Eurasian wigeon, brent geese and common teal, while common scoters, common eiders, common goldeneyes and red-breasted mergansers swim offshore.Allison (1989) pp. 87-88.
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There are two notable hatching areas on Sylt, the Königshafen bay with the small island Uthörn in the north and the Rantum basin in the southeast. Birds that hatch on Sylt include black-headed gull, Arctic tern, pied avocet, common redshank, common gull, oystercatcher, northern lapwing, common shelduck and tufted duck. During the migration, Sylt is a resting spot for thousands of brent geese and shelducks, Eurasian wigeons and common eiders, as well as bar-tailed godwits, red knots, dunlins and Eurasian golden plovers. Ringed plover, common snipe, ruff and other species are less common visitors to the island.
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The construction of a dike across James Bay could negatively impact many mammal species, including ringed and bearded seals, walruses, and bowhead whales, as well as vulnerable populations of polar bears and beluga whales. The impacts would also affect many species of migratory bird, including lesser snow geese, Canada geese, black scoters, brants, American black ducks, northern pintails, mallards, American wigeons, green-winged teals, greater scaups, common eiders, red knots, dunlins, black-bellied, American goldens, and semipalmated plovers, greater and lesser yellowlegs, sanderlings, many species of sandpipers, whimbrels, and marbled godwits, as well as the critically endangered Eskimo curlew.
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The national park is therefore an important resting and moulting area for seabirds. For example, shelducks live on the snails that are found in hundreds of thousands on the surface of the mudflats. The approximately 180,000 birds of the north-western shelduck population spends also their moulting period from July to September in the Wadden Sea, which is protected by the three national parks in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. About 200,000 eider ducks also spend their moulting season here; about 1,000 pairs of eiders also use the mudflats of the North Sea as a breeding area.
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Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve is an ecological reserve located near Cape St. Mary's on the Cape Shore, on the southwestern Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. Northern gannets nesting on Bird Rock It is home to one of Newfoundland's largest seabird colonies. The government of Newfoundland and Labrador estimates that the site is home to 24,000 northern gannets, 20,000 black-legged kittiwakes, 20,000 common murres, and 2,000 thick-billed murres, as well as dozens or hundreds of razorbill, and black guillemot breeding pairs. The ocean waters off the reserve also provides winter habitat for harlequin ducks, common eiders, scoters, and long-tailed ducks.
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While some islands provide dense stands of red spruce and balsam fir for nesting bald eagles and wading birds, other islands provide great expanses of mixed grasses and raspberries which support nesting terns, common eiders, and a number of neotropical migrants. The rocky ledges surrounding the islands provide nesting habitat for Atlantic puffins, razorbills, and black guillemots. The inter- tidal areas surrounding the islands and mainland properties provide an abundance of invertebrates for migratory and wintering waterfowl and shorebirds. The diversity of upland habitats and the extensive inter-tidal habitats combine to provide foraging, breeding, and migratory habitat for over 320 species of birds.
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A typical inhabitant of the sandy mudflats is the lugworm, which lives in a U-shaped tube under the surface of the mud. Up to 4,000 animal and plant species specialize in the unusually food-rich habitat of the Wadden Sea. For example, shelduck live on the snails, which are found in hundreds of thousands on the surface of the flats. The approximately 180,000 birds of north-western Europe's shelduck population also spends their moulting season from July to September in the Wadden Sea, as do about 200,000 eider; and about 1,000 pairs of eiders use the mudflats of the North Sea as a breeding area.
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For eight years, she studied geography and biology, participating in numerous field trips on polar research. Graduating in 1929, Demme went to work at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute and participated in a two- year expedition to Franz Josef Land, during which she was the only woman in the group. Chosen to lead an expedition to Severnaya Zemlya, known then as the Kamenev Islands, she and her team of three men mapped the western part of the archipelago and conducted research on the plants and animals. Returning to Leningrad in 1934, she researched the commercial collective farming potential of animals of the north and for several seasons studied black foxes and the possibilities of breeding eiders.
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Diagram of the male The Labrador duck is considered a sea duck. A basic difference in the shape of the process of metacarpal I divides the sea ducks into two groups: #Bucephala and the mergansers #The eiders, scoters, Histrionicus, Clangula, and Camptorhynchus The position of the nutrient foramen of the tarsometatarsus also separates the two groups of sea ducks. In the first group, the foramen is lateral to the long axis of the lateral groove of the hypotarsus; in the second, the foramen is on or medial to the axis of that groove. The Labrador duck was also known as the pied duck and skunk duck, the former being a vernacular name that it shared with the surf scoter and the common goldeneye (and even the American oystercatcher), a fact that has led to difficulties in interpreting old records of these species.
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From observations in northern New England, 23% of observed prey was echinoderms and 63% was crustaceans. Unlike most other Larus gulls, they are highly predatory and frequently hunt and kill any prey smaller than themselves, behaving more like a raptor than a typical larid gull. Lacking the razor-sharp talons and curved, tearing beak of a raptor, the great black-backed gull relies on aggression, physical strength and endurance when hunting. When attacking other animals, they usually attack seabird eggs, nestlings or fledglings at the nest, perhaps most numerously terns, but also including smaller gull species as well as eiders, gannets and various alcids. In Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, 10% of the stomach contents of great black-backed gulls was made up of birds, while a further 17% of stomach contents was made up of tern eggs alone.
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On the North American side, eider down initially was preferred, but once the eiders were nearly driven to extinction in the 1770s, down collectors switched to the great auk at the same time that hunting for food, fishing bait, and oil decreased. The great auk had disappeared from Funk Island by 1800. An account by Aaron Thomas of HMS Boston from 1794 described how the bird had been slaughtered systematically until then: Eldey, last refuge of the great auk With its increasing rarity, specimens of the great auk and its eggs became collectible and highly prized by rich Europeans, and the loss of a large number of its eggs to collection contributed to the demise of the species. Eggers, individuals who visited the nesting sites of the great auk to collect their eggs, quickly realized that the birds did not all lay their eggs on the same day, so they could make return visits to the same breeding colony.
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