Species Close-Up: Steller’s Eider

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and one of the challenging activities taking place at this beautiful and important refuge is the protection and recovery of the endangered Steller’s eider.

Steller’s eiders are the smallest eiders in size and are restricted to northern latitudes where they breed in freshwater tundra ponds and winter along the coast in shallow lagoons and deep bays.The Alaska breeding population of Steller’s eiders has been listed as threatened since 1997, and only an estimated 70,000 remain out of the 200,000 that once wintered along the Alaska Peninsula.

At the moment, it’s not clear why the population of Steller’s eiders is dropping but among the theories for the eiders’ decline are over-hunting in Siberia and other areas where some of the birds breed; lead poisoning from the ingesting of lead shotgun pellets accumulated in breeding grounds; exposure to oil and other contaminants; a drop in mussels, clams, and other marine invertebrates that eiders feed on; and collisions with fishing boats. Also, predation by ravens, large gulls, and foxes on the breeding grounds may be increasing in areas where populations of these predators are enhanced by the year-round food and shelter provided by human activities and garbage dumps.

The staff at Izembek NWR and their partners are working on ways to learn more about the ecology and movement patterns of Steller’s eiders, and in 2005, Izembek launched a new database to boost research capabilities. The system now incorporates almost 50 years of banding data and will aid in learning more about population and movement. Another research technique that was tried was tracking the ducks with portable transmitters, but the transmitters appeared to make the wintering birds more vulnerable to eagle predation and hindered the recovery efforts.

To add to the ducks’ predicament, biologists report that Steller’s eiders are susceptible to avian flu, so researchers have been checking birds for the disease, although none have been found carrying the high-pathogenic variety.

Information about the recovery plan for the Steller’s eider can be found on the Alaska USFWS Steller’s Eider In-Depth page. Information about protecting Steller’s eiders from human impact can be found on the USFWS Steller’s Eider fact sheet.

Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, Izembek NWR, Alaska, Steller’s eider