King Eider
Somateria spectabilis
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderAnseriformes (Waterfowl)
- FamilyAnatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Swans)
- GenusSomateria (Typical Eiders)
- SpeciesSomateria spectabilis (King Eider)
About the King Eider
The king eider (pronounced ) (Somateria spectabilis) is a large sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay four to seven eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down.
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.
The genus name Somateria is a combination of the Greek words sōma, meaning "body", and erion, meaning "wool"; the combination (i.e. "wooly body") is a reference to the eider's famously thick, soft down. The specific name spectabilis is Latin for "showy", "remarkable" or "worth seeing", a reference to the handsomeness of the adult... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of King Eider in Vatnajokull National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Vatnajokull National Park
Common Eider
Somateria mollissima
Eurasian Wigeon
Mareca penelope
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Tufted Duck
Aythya fuligula
Greylag Goose
Anser anser
Whooper Swan
Cygnus cygnus
Red-breasted Merganser
Mergus serrator
Long-tailed Duck
Clangula hyemalis
Harlequin Duck
Histrionicus histrionicus
Common Teal
Anas crecca
Barrow's Goldeneye
Bucephala islandica
Gadwall
Mareca strepera
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vatnajokull National Park | 🇮🇸 Iceland | |
| 2 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a King Eider in Vatnajokull National Park?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a King Eider sighting in Vatnajokull National Park, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see King Eider in Vatnajokull National Park?
November has the highest sighting rate for King Eider in Vatnajokull National Park in our monthly data.