#the seaduck

[masterhallmark]

In case you ever wondered just how big the Iron Vulture is

Image taken from the Disney Wiki

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Black Scoter

Photo: Ashley M Bradford

"Was once called 'Common Scoter,' but that name is now restricted to a similar species in the Old World. The Black Scoter is generally seen less often than the other two kinds of scoters in most parts of North America. Floats rather buoyantly on water, often with tail cocked up noticeably. On northern waters, more vocal than the other two scoters, giving clear whistled calls."

- Audubon Field Guide

[dougdimmadodo]

Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)

Family: Duck Family (Anatidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Near Threatened

While most ducks inhabit freshwater environments, the Common Eider is a marine duck that breeds in the summer in coastal regions of arctic Asia, North America and Europe and spends the winter in relatively warm coastal waters in the subarctic zone, such as the Gulf of Alaska, the Baltic Sea and the English channel, rarely coming to land during this time. It feeds largely on marine invertebrates such as mussels, crabs, worms and sea urchins (although it may also eat the eggs and young larvae of fish), and is able to drink seawater by filtering out excess salt before expelling it from specialized “salt glands” in their nostrils. Female Common Eiders are dark brown in colour and exhibit natal philopatry (meaning they return to the same nesting site they were born at to breed each year.) During the breeding season they gather in large colonies on coastal islets and construct simple nests consisting of a shallow ditch lined with extremely soft downy feathers from their chests and bellies known as eiderdown. Males of this species (which are white with black heads and wings and a pale green patch on their nape) do not aid in caring for their offspring, but multiple females within a nesting colony will work together to protect and raise one-another’s chicks, sometimes going so far as to lay eggs in one another’s nests. Once the breeding season has ended and their chicks have fledged the colony flies south for the winter and leaves their eiderdown-filled nests behind, allowing humans to collect the feathers to use for their softness and insulating properties in a manner that does not impact wild eider populations. 

(Side note- When courting females, male Common Eiders produce a bizarre, croaky “Ooooh” call which is unbelievable goofy and endearing, and I cannot recommend looking it up highly enough.)

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Animal Advent Calendar - Day 10

Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/7024-Somateria-mollissima

[the-gershomite]

One of my all time favorites: Talespin

[birds-in-posts]

King Eider (Somateria spectabilis)

[njpnetworks]

About the eider duck and it's habitat

Key information The eider is the UK’s heaviest duck and its fastest flying. It is a true seaduck, rarely found away from coasts where its dependence on coastal molluscs for food has brought it into conflict with mussel farmers. Eiders are highly gregarious and usually stay close inshore, riding the swell in a sandy bay or strung out in long lines out beyond the breaking waves. It is an Amber List…

[jaminstar]

my latest poster from adventures project on etsy is awesome, it goes nicely with my Lego Seaduck! #adventurersproject #talespin #talespinseaduck #talespinbaloo #legotalespin #etsy https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm2NMF4P1j1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[oneweirdreptileaday]

Common Eider, Somateria mollissima

[acmeoop]

Air Pirate Attack

Tailspin

Art by Russell Mark Olsen

[fantabirds]

Goosander, male (Mergus merganser) ~ Smergo maggiore

Nikon Coolpix B700 71.7mm 1/320sec f/5.6 ISO100

[kaliyakarnage]

New cover (and title) for a little something I started 8 years ago and never got to finish due to many issues. This fancomic still has a special place in my heart and I thought it deserved to be "upgraded". The story is not dead (and never was), so IF time and strength is on my side, I will be able to continue it. We'll just have to wait and see^^

Talespin(c)Disney

Fancharacters, story and art(c)Kaliya

[mattaytchtaylor]

Missing You In Cape Suzette

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Common Eider

Photo: Tobias Verfuss

"A big, lethargic, heavy-bodied duck of northern coastlines. Often seen floating offshore in flocks of up to several thousand birds. Sociable in breeding season also, and often nests in colonies. Eider down, famous for its insulating qualities, is used in large amounts in the nest lining of these ducks, helping to keep the eggs warm in frigid northern climates. In some places, such as Iceland, the down is harvested commercially at coastal 'eider farms,' where the wild birds are encouraged to nest in sheltered nooks built for them."

- Audubon Field Guide

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Somateria

Spectacled Eider, by Fastily, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Name: Somateria mollissima, S. fischeri, S. spectabilis

Status: Extant

First Described: 1819

Described By: Leach

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Anseres, Anatoidea, Anatidae, Merginae 

Today’s dinosaur is another group of lovely ducks - the Eiders! Eiders are large sea ducks with three living species - the Common Eider (S. mollissima), the King Eider (S. spectabilis) and the Spectacled Eider (S. fischeri). All of these birds are not threatened with extinction or near threatened, making them fairly safe as far as ecology goes. They live primarily in the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. They have a slight fossil record indicating they appeared at the earliest around 28 - 27 million years ago (along the Rupelian - Chattian boundary of the Oligocene of the Paleogene) in Kazakhstan, at the latest around 5.3 million years ago, at the Messinian - Zanclean (Miocene - Pliocene) boundary in the Neogene of the United States. 

Common Eider by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0 

The Common Eider is a sea duck from the north of Europe, North America, and Siberia, breeding in Arctic regions and wintering in the temperate zones along the coasts. They actually make up huge flocks during the winter, with flocks consisting of up to 15,000 individuals. They breed in colonies of similar sizes, and the females come back to breed on the same island where they were hatched - which is no easy feat, as there are many, many northern islands where these birds go to breed. They are the largest species in the genus, and the largest duck known in Europe. Only the Muscovy Duck reaches larger sizes in North America. They weigh up to 3 kilograms, and they aren’t very shy birds, often easily approached by humans. They also make a human-ish call that sounds like “ah-ooo”. 

Common Eider by Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5 

These birds have extremely soft and warm down, that they use to warm up their nests built in the northern, frozen seas. As such, for a long time Eider down was an extremely popular material for pillow and quilt filling. Though it isn’t used as much as in the past, using Eider down is still sustainable, by taking the down after the chicks have left the nest. They partake in cooperative breeding, and will make crèches together so that closely related females take care of each others’ chicks. They feed primarily on molluscs and crustaceans, swallowing mussels whole for food. There are probably 2 million birds alive in North America and Europe, and an unquantifiable number in Siberia. The males have distinct white and black patterning, while the females are primarily brown and mottled. 

King Eider by Ron Knight, CC BY 2.0 

The King Eider is a very visually distinctive Eider from, again, the Arctic tundra of Europe, North America, and Asia. They migrate only a little farther south in the winter, still staying in taiga and temperate regions. These are large birds, weighing up to 1.7 kilograms, so still not quite as large as the Common Eider. The males have brilliantly patterned heads with green, yellow, black, and blue striping, and a pinkish beak. Their bodies are primarily black, white, and tan. The females are brown and mottled. They have a vast range and can form flocks of up to 100,000 birds - there are so many King Eiders out there, in fact, that we’re not exactly sure what their current population is. They feed mainly on invertebrates in the ocean, though during the breeding season they will forage in freshwater. They make scrape nests on the ground lined with down feathers, and the female does the bulk of the egg rearing. They make lovely dove like cooing for their calls! 

Spectacled Eider by Laura Whitehouse, in the Public Domain 

The Spectacled Eider is our last member of the genus, known primarily from Alaska and northeastern Siberia, so it has a slightly more limited range. Named for the large eye patches on both males and females, they decidedly have extremely distinctive appearances. The females are primarily brown and mottled, while the males have distinctive green plumage on their heads everywhere but the eye, which is surrounded by white and black. They also have white and black bodies as well. They feed on mostly molluscs, though they do branch out during the breeding season, and dive primarily for food. They form breeding pairs, though females are the only ones who care for the eggs. They develop very rapidly, and are able to fly after 53 days from hatching. Unfortunately, this bird is at high risk from gas and oil drilling in the north. 

Buy the author a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/kulindadromeus

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eider 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_eider 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_eider 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacled_eider

[grace-kum]

Sneak peaks of my piece for the Disney Afternoon TV Tribute show @gallerynucleus ! Come check out all the cool pieces everyone has made on February 24!

[neosaturn]