Common and King Eiders

Somateria mollissima & Somateria spectabilis

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Common and King Eiders

Common Eider
Somateria mollissima
qaanillqaacak (LCI), qayariq / qaniil’qatiq (brown) (PWS), ALbah (Eyak)

King Eider
Somateria spectabilis
qaqaqaulek (LCI), qayariq (PWS), ALbah (Eyak)

TRADITIONAL USE Ceremonial Objects, Eating the Birds

Description

Three species of eider occur in the Chugach Region. Common and King Eiders are rare visitors, although Common Eiders do nest in the Lower Cook Inlet. Steller’s Eider (Polysticta stelleri) is an even rarer winter visitor. Male Common Eiders are black on the lower part of their body, white on the upper part, and have a distinctive black cap. They also have a pale green-yellow color on the nape and their bill is either a greenish gray or yellowish orange. Male King Eiders have a white chest, small patch on the back, and wing panels; the rest of their body is black. Their heads have a pale blue or gray cap, green wash under the eyes, a large orange knob directly above a red bill. Females of the King and Common Eider are similarly various shades of brown with dark stripes across the body. However, the Common Eider female is larger, and has a sloping forehead and evenly barred sides and scapulars.

Common Eider or qaanillqaacak (LCI) or qayariq / qaniil’qatiq (brown)

(PWS) or ALbah (Eyak)

Illustration by Kim McNett

King Eider or qaqaqaulek (LCI), qayariq (PWS), ALbah (Eyak)

Illustration by Kim McNett

Habitat and Status

Common Eiders are usually found near rocky coastline. While rare, Common Eiders winter most frequently between Resurrection Bay and the Chugach Islands (Isleib and Kessel 1973). During the nesting season, females typically nest on the forest floor, but still close to the sea. They create their nests by lining a dip in the ground with down feathers and if they need to leave the nest, the females will cover their 3‒8 egg clutch with more down as well as nearby vegetation, wood, or rocks. King Eiders tend to occur in inshore waters from December until May (Isleib and Kessel 1973).

Modeling by Audubon suggests that winter conditions for King Eiders in the Chugach Region will decline in a warming climate. However, its overall wintering range is likely to expand far north of the Alaska Peninsula along the Bering and Beaufort Sea coastline.

During potlaches, traditional shamans would hold a wand in his hand while the dancers carried feathers and other objects. The wand was a stick of wood, about 2 feet long, to which eider down was attached and apparently used to give the actors their cues (Birket-Smith and de Laguna 1938).