(Credit: U. S. Geological Survey)

King Eider - Somateria spectabilis

Identification Tips:

  1. Length: 16 inches Wingspan: 37 inches
  2. Large diving duck
  3. Bill feathered partly along side and down forehead
  4. Steep forehead

Adult male alternate:

  1. Pale blue crown and rear of head
  2. Bright orange bill and frontal shield outlined in black
  3. Black back, flanks, belly, and tail
  4. White neck, breast, and spot near tail
  5. Immature male similar to female but has white breast and orange bill

Adult female:

  1. Gray-brown plumage with fine black barring
  2. Barring on flanks arrow-shaped

Similar species:

The adult male King Eider has a bright orange bill and shield and a dark back while the Common Eider a white back and lacks the orange bill and shield. Immature male Common Eider has a dark bill while the immature male King Eider has an orange bill. Female King and Common Eiders are very similar but note the barring on the flanks; linear in Common, arrow-shaped in King. King Eiders have steeper foreheads than Commons and the feathering on the bill is different-in the Common Eider it extends farther from the side of the bill toward the nostril and less far down the forehead.