Female © Ian Davies
Male © Andrew Spencer
Female © Ian Davies
Male and female © Tom Auer
+ 3
Male © Mitch Walters
Male and female © Ian Davies

Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri

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Identification

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This peculiar Arctic sea duck breeds on the tundra in Alaska and far eastern Russia and winters in massive flocks among pack ice in the Bering Sea. Males have a unique olive-green head with white goggles, a dark breast, and a carrot-orange bill. Females are brown overall with pale goggles. Rarely seen away from a few key sites in Alaska, usually in small numbers. Compare with other eider species; even the dullest young females have pale goggle pattern on head.

POWERED BY MERLIN