Spectacled Eider
Plush -headed duck (Somateria fischeri ), front a male behind a female
The plush head duck ( Somateria fischeri ) is a large sea duck that lives on the coasts of Alaska and northeastern Siberia.
Description
Plush head ducks are large ducks, within the genre of eider ducks, however, the smallest kind you reach a body length of 52-57 inches. The males weigh 1500-1850 grams. The females can weigh 1400 to 1850 grams. The type is slightly smaller than the closely related Common Eider.
The males are unmistakable with its black body, the white back and the yellow- green head, which has two large white eye spots. The neck feathers are elongated something that gives this duck a dickhalsiges appearance. The beak is orange and up to the nostrils from a bright green visor covered with a white border. The beak is bright nail legs and feet are bright yellow, the webs are gray yellow. The iris is reddish brown.
The female is mainly brown in color, but can be distinguished by their size and shape of other ducks. From other eiders she is well distinguished by the conspicuous goggles and the visor above the beak root.
Voice
No calls have been described for the male. The female is a guttural croak as alarm call by itself and calls the chick with a clucking buck buck buck buck buck - BUCK. Dunenjunge give two-syllable Pfeiflaute of itself.
Dissemination
Like few other birds of the Arctic, the plush duck head on a strictly regulated area of distribution. Your breeding area is located between the estuaries of the Siberian rivers Kolyma and Indigirka and to both sides of the Yukondeltas in Alaska. On the coast of northern Siberia it comes from the Bering Strait to the mouth of the river in front of Lena. On the coast of Alaska belongs to their area of distribution and the stretch of coast between Point Barrow and the Bristolbay. They penetrate up to 120 kilometers from inland.
Reproduction
Plush duck head stands for their reproduction only a very short period of time available. The nests are built in Germany and are usually located near a small body of water, which usually serves a single pair as the only food source. On larger bodies of water often breed more plush head duck pairs.
In the nest, which is built directly on the tundra soil, 5-9 eggs are laid. The eggs are laid at a distance of 24 hours. The female begins to breed mostly before the clutch is complete. The chicks hatch after 24 days. The young birds fledge after about 50 days.
Food
The existing crustaceans and molluscs food is captured while diving. These birds spend the winter in large flocks on the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean.