Polysticta stelleri
Length: 16-17 Weight: 2 lbs
Identification:
Male had a white face with black eye spot and collar; breast is white with charred orange on the front. Female is dark brown with white eye spot.
Distribution:
Limited breeding range in extreme Northern Alaska and Siberia. Winter in the Bering Sea.
Cool Facts:
The Steller’s Eider is a federally endangered species; in the US, it breeds in only two small pockets of coastal Alaska above the Arctic Circle.
In the language of the native Alaskan Inupiat, Steller’s Eiders are known as Igniquaqtuq, meaning “the bird who sat in fire,” a reference to the charred orangish coloration on the bird’s breast.
Steller’s Eiders are not technically an eider; they are placed in a different genus from the one shared by Common, King, and Spectacled Eiders, and Steller’s Eiders have a body shape and bill morphology more closely resembling a duck.
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