A few birds from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
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Steller's Eider:Steller’s Eider Caqiar Although the Steller’s eider has only been spotted as a visitor to the YK Delta over the past few years and no nest has been found for a decade, I’m writing about the bird in hopes that someone does find a nest and that once again we can call it a Yup’ik bird. Let’s start with names for this smallest of all the eiders. In all of my bird guides it is known as Steller’s eider (an Icelandic name for sea duck), after Georg M. Steller, the German zoologist who accompanied Vitus Bering on his second voyage into Alaskan waters in 1741. Steller was the first person to describe the bird for Western science on the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in N.E. Russia. The Yup’ik name, Caqiar(aq), probably has to do with its habit of suddenly turning from one side to the other searching for possible predators (from the verb “caqir-”). Its scientific name, Polysticta stelleri. means, “Steller’s many spotted” sea duck. Okay, on to some cool facts about this diving duck. It is not only the smallest of the eiders, it is much trimmer than the others, and is shaped more like a mallard. The male has a black eye and a green bump on the back of its head (neither of which has anything to do with fighting). Its wings whistle in flight like a goldeneye’s. The male utters low crooning notes and the female a harsh growl. They spend the winter in large flocks that dive in unison (often causing a large spray) and also surface all at once. When they were still common nesters in the Hooper Bay region in the 1950’s and 60’s, they were the last eider to appear there in spring, usually by the end of May, flying about tundra ponds. (Since I didn’t get there till the late 1970’s, I never saw them.) Pair bonds are formed by the birds while in their winter flocks even before they arrive on their nesting ground. Many males may surround one female and display ostentatiously by rearing up out of the water, turning their heads rapidly from side to side, and tossing their heads back in a rapid to and fro motion. This leads to a courtship flight, with the males in hot pursuit of the female. In the end, the female chooses her mate, then settles down to build her nest in a shallow depression on open tundra near water, sometimes surrounded by low willows. She alone constructs the nest, lining it with bits of plant material and down feathers that she pulls from her brood patch. Then she lays 7-8 olive-buff eggs that only she broods for an unknown period. As soon as she has laid her eggs and starts incubating them, her mate moves south again to his feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. As incubation advances, the female plucks more and more of her breast feathers to keep the eggs warm. Shortly after hatching, the young leave the nest and go to water. Their mother tends them but does not feed them. Their diet at this time is essentially the same as their mother’s: mostly aquatic insects, plus some plant food such as pondweeds and crowberries. They feed by wading in clear shallow water or swimming with head submerged or dabbling at the surface. Two or more broods of young may combine under the care of one or more females, something known as “creching.” The age at first flight is unknown, but after they do fledge and fly to the open ocean to feed, they will eat mostly mollusks and crustaceans as well as sand dollars, marine worms and small fish. When they dive for these foods underwater they open their wings as though flying, similar to the underwater flight of penguins. In a recent article in the Delta Discovery, Brian McCaffery reported that the number of Steller’s eiders nesting in the YK Delta has declined to almost zero, perhaps because of lead poisoning from lead shot used by hunters. Thankfully, this practice has changed, and perhaps now this small sea duck has a chance to make a comeback. I hope so.  |
