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Steller’s eider (Polysticta stelleri) drake and hen
The Steller’s eider is the smallest of four eider species, and lives its entire life in the Arctic. They breed on the northernmost coasts of Russia and Alaska, and winter in the Bering sea, where... — **Steller’s eider** (*Polysticta stelleri*) **drake and hen**
The Steller’s eider is the smallest of four eider species, and lives its entire life in the Arctic. They breed on the northernmost coasts of Russia and Alaska, and winter in the Bering sea, where they hunt for small mollusks and other marine invertebrates.
This striking sea duck is also facing a steep decline; it is listed as **endangered** under the Endangered Species Act and as **vulnerable** by the IUCN. This is because the Russian population is declining slowly, while the North American population is in dire straits. Although they used to breed all over the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and North Slope of Alaska, the North American breeding population is now restricted to a handful of pairs in Barrow.

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The Birds of 2015 #18: Long-tailed Duck

This adorable seaduck is one of several species that prefers to breed in the high arctic tundra. Like other seaducks, the long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis) is highly sexually dimorphic; the males have striking black-and-white plumage with incredibly long central rectrices (ahem… as the common name might suggest…), while the females have precious markings in muted browns and grays.

Okay, I’m a little biased toward this species. The males in particular seem more bold than other waterfowl, which makes them a joy to photograph! Not only that, but they have a wonderful vocalization; it’s a yodeled “ah-hoooo-LIK!”, which is eerily similar to their Iñupiat name: ahaalik.

Barrow, AK, June 2015

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The Birds of 2015 #13: Steller’s Eider
This was an important bird to try and get some quality time with this summer, as it is the focal species of the study I was an assistant for: Steller’s eider (Polysticta stelleri), the smallest of the four eider... — **The Birds of 2015 #13: Steller’s Eider**
This was an important bird to try and get some quality time with this summer, as it is the focal species of the study I was an assistant for: Steller’s eider (*Polysticta stelleri*), the smallest of the four eider species and the sole representative in its genus.
This species is listed as IUCN **Threatened**, due to major declines in the species, particularly in their North American breeding territories. Through the mid-1900s, there was a moderate breeding density at two known locations in the United States (Barrow, AK and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western AK), but the eiders were last documented breeding on the Delta in 1975 (Kertell 1990).
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Common eider confirmed to be the least intelligent eider species??
Waterfowl sit incredibly tight to their nests. Sometimes you will have to *literally* touch the bird to get it to flush, or you might even be able to capture the bird on the nest... — Common eider confirmed to be the least intelligent eider species??
Waterfowl sit incredibly tight to their nests. Sometimes you will have to *literally* touch the bird to get it to flush, or you might even be able to capture the bird on the nest without even using a net!
Sometimes, waterfowl flush (*Ahem*, this COEI pictured above) from their nests and decide to pancake in the intertidal instead, despite the fact that 1) they’re no longer protecting their nest, 2) they’ve likely been spotted by the nest/predator, and 3) now they’re just about guaranteed to be eaten.
I’ve never seen this behavior before even though I’ve spent many hours working with nesting eiders, so I worried the hen was injured. She sat tight through a physical exam (everything was ship-shape), so I tentatively walked away. Then she finally decided to fly.
Yikes, right? Sometimes bird mamas can behave very erratically nearest to hatching, so we’ll chalk it up to hormones.
Meanwhile, I’ll be over here celebrating my Lifetime Eider Grand Slam* (LEGS), since I’ve now touched every species of eider in the world!
*not to be confused with the typical Eider Grand Slam (EGS), in which you see every eider species in a single day. It’s possible– I’ve done it twice!

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Steller’s eider in June

I was lucky enough to capture some footage of a big group of five Steller’s eider (Polysticta stelleri, IUCN-Threatened) in a bizarre head-bobbing cluster one day. Beats me as to what it all means, though…

If there are any waterfowl behavioral ecologists out there, hit me up! I’ve observed head-bobbing between both males and females and I’m guessing it’s some sort of sexual display… But I have not combed the literature on this business yet!

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Spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri) hen on nest
Sea ducks are the ultimate in dedicated mothers: the hens receive no help from drakes in building the nest and raising the chicks, and they nest in an open landscape that provides virtually no cover... — **Spectacled eider (*Somateria fischeri*) hen on nest**
Sea ducks are the ultimate in dedicated mothers: the hens receive no help from drakes in building the nest and raising the chicks, and they nest in an open landscape that provides virtually no cover from predators. Some species, like common eider, can go the entire incubation period without ever leaving the nest. Others cleverly hide the eggs in a down nest bowl while they depart for a brief feeding break.
The tundra is a habitat of steep costs and bountiful benefits; the 24-hour summer means that for a brief period each year, the landscape is a productive paradise for raising offspring. However, this high productivity brings predators too. The success of a species in this environment depends on the evolution of innovative strategies to capitalize on the high-productivity summer while navigating the costs.

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Spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri) hen performs broken-wing display
If you’re a nesting bird, there is a lot of effort dedicated to raising your offspring: producing eggs is energetically costly, and then they have to be incubated, a task that... — **Spectacled eider** (*Somateria fischeri*) **hen performs broken-wing display**
If you’re a nesting bird, there is a lot of effort dedicated to raising your offspring: producing eggs is energetically costly, and then they have to be incubated, a task that means withstanding harsh conditions, day and night, while reducing your own food intake. Leaving the nest poses an immediate risk for a predator to devour the entire clutch, rendering all of that costly reproductive effort for naught.
One way that nesting birds reduce the chances that an enterprising nest predator might eat their eggs is by evolving clever behaviors. One of these is the common **broken-wing display:** when a predator comes near the nest, the parent will pretend to be injured, flopping around vulnerably in an attempt to draw the predator away from the nest.
The strategy must be effective, because it’s employed by dozens of bird species worldwide from many different groups! Key examples are shorebirds (like the familiar **killdeer** (*Charadrius vociferus*), famous for its broken-wing), waterfowl, and seabirds.

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Today on fieldwork selfies: some pomarine jaegerbombs — **Today on fieldwork selfies:** some pomarine jaegerbombs

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Lapland longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) chick
These small buntings are at home in the tundra, where they feed on insects and grains and nest on the ground or in stunted willows. This species is distributed across Europe and North America, and... — **Lapland longspur (*Calcarius lapponicus*) chick**
These small buntings are at home in the tundra, where they feed on insects and grains and nest on the ground or in stunted willows. This species is distributed across Europe and North America, and migrates south every winter, where it will often feed with other species in massive mixed-species flocks.
This little fledgling is just finishing the job of replacing its natal down (seen as little fluffs on the head) with juvenal plumage. Even after leaving the nest, the parents will continue to feed the chicks until they are ready to fend for themselves.

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Steller’s eider (Polysticta stelleri), Barrow AK

For the IUCN-Threatened population of Steller’s eiders, a successful hatch is a remarkable thing. This year in Barrow, which hosts just about the entirety breeding population of the species in North America, a mere four nests hatched. Under pressure from nest depredation by owls, jaegers, and foxes, plus encroaching human populations, this remarkable sea duck has a lot of challenges ahead of it.

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Nintendo Characters in Traditional Japanese Art Style made by Ukiyo-e Heroes

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great-and-small

My only interesting/ notable talent is that I can make baby alligators RUN to my feet solely by making this annoying sound

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i don't care if you have fuckall going for you otherwise, please marry me

great-and-small

Because this is getting popular and some have voiced safety concerns in the notes (and because I’d hate for you to think me of me ~your future spouse~ as reckless), I hope you won’t mind me derailing this post to talk a bit about alligator behavior and what I’m doing here! The noise that I am emulating in the video is my attempt at the contact call of the juvenile American alligator. I am NOT trying to make a distress call, which is what a baby alligator would use to call mom for help, and is a different sound entirely. Instead, contact calls are typically used in communication between juvenile gator siblings that live together in groups called crèches. While a mother gator will certainly swim towards a hatchling distress call (up to a certain age) to protect her young, the other babies will typically swim away from the sound, meaning a correctly done contact call shouldn’t cause a hostile reaction in a nearby momma gator. That said, everyone with safety concerns is absolutely correct to consider the possible implications for doing contact calls in the wild, and much like performing bird calls in the wild there are ethical considerations that must be taken into account. I’d love to give my three personal rules for performing this call!

1. If your feet are on dirt, grass, or water, do not attempt a contact call. If you watch till the end of my video you’ll see a shadow that shows I am standing on a raised boardwalk with a rail, which is the optimal situation for safely observing gators. This way even if you somehow do make a sound that attracts an aggressive alligator, you are not at risk of a dangerous encounter.

2. If the alligator is less than 2 feet in length, do not attempt a contact call. While I did say “baby” in the original post, a better word for this animal would be juvenile, as their length and head shape indicates they’ve reached at least a year or two in age. You should absolutely never make any kind of noise to intentionally disturb hatchling gators that are small and highly vulnerable to predators! Once a gator has gotten to about 2 feet in length they’re usually around 2-3 years old and have typically left mom at this age.

3. If you are planning on interacting with the alligator in any way, do not attempt a contact call. It is imperative to both our safety and alligator wellbeing that we do not condition them to seek human behavior by feeding them. I once saw a tour guide call over gators using this method so that he could feed them cocktail shrimp for the delight of tourists. Shouldn’t have to say it but don’t do this! Don’t feed them, don’t touch them, and don’t get within 20 feet of them, for everyone’s safety. Wildlife is wild and should stay that way.

I probably should have spelled all that out in my original post so please forgive me the omission! Keep gatoring on everyone 🐊

(Interested readers may refer to my tags for additional information on the contact calls and alligator behavior described here!)

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op this is me standing on a boardwalk watching you ethically and responsibly do contact calls to juvenile 2 foot long alligators

a FALSE (red)START — Steller’s eider (Polysticta stelleri) drake and...

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