General

Spectacled Eider: Smallest of the Eiders, has orange bill, white upperparts, black underparts, breast, and sides, black pointed tail, yellow-green head and large white "goggles" bordered with black. White feathers on upper mandible extend past nostril. Females are mottled brown overall with gray bill and juveniles resemble females.

Range and Habitat

Spectacled Eider: Found along the arctic coastal plains of Alaska, Russia, and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Prefers open sea and tundra. The entire population winters in the Bering Sea in great open areas of packed ice.

Breeding and Nesting

Spectacled Eider: One to eight olive buff to green eggs are incubated 24 days by female in a nest of plant material lined with large amounts of down, built very close to the edges of tundra ponds.

Foraging and Feeding

Spectacled Eider: Feeds by diving into muddy waters of coastal estuaries for crustaceans, mollusks, and plant material.

Vocalization

Spectacled Eider: Breeding male utters a weak "ho-hoo" sound in courtship.

Similar Species

Spectacled Eider: Common Eider has a white breast and black crown. King Eider has large orange bill shield. Both lack "goggles"