ACCESS NUMBER; TO-85240 

STUDY TITLE: Breeding Biology of King Eiders on the Coastal Plain of Northern Alaska

REPORT TITLE: Breeding Biology of King Eiders on the Coastal Plain of Northern Alaska

CONTRACT NUMBERS(S): 14-35-0001-30909, TASK ORDER (TO): 85240 

SPONSORING OCS REFION: Alaska 

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA(S); 

FISCAL YEAR(S) OF PROJECT FUNDING: 2002–2005 

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: December 2005 

COST(S): $57,322, $46,905; CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST: $104,227. 

PROJECT MANAGER(S): Abby N. Powell 

AFFILIATION: Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and USGS Alaska 

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit 

ADDRESS: Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-

7000 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S): Abby N. Powell, Robert Suydam, and Rebecca L. McGuire 

KEY WORDS: Alaska, King Eiders, Somateria spectabilis, habitat use, nest site selection, nest 

survival, brood rearing 

BACKGROUND: 

Little is known about the breeding biology of King Eiders in either disturbed or undisturbed areas, 

partly because they typically nest in remote areas at low densities. To date there have been few 

studies dedicated to the breeding biology of King Eiders, and most of the knowledge has been 

anecdotal data collected incidentally to other studies. Migration counts at Point Barrow, Alaska 

have indicated that the western North American population of King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) 

has declined by more than 50% between 1976 and 1996. Reasons for the decline are unknown, 

but it corresponds with continent-wide declines in other sea duck species. Additionally, the 

highest known density of nesting King Eiders on the north slope of Alaska occurs within the 

northeast planning area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The NPR-A is being 

leased for oil and gas exploration and is just beginning to be developed. 

OBJECTIVES: 

Our goals were to: 1) document the timing of arrival and departure from breeding areas of males, 

females and young, 2) document habitat use during pre-nesting, nesting, and brood-rearing and 

post nesting, 3) document chronology of nesting, nesting success, causes of nest failure, and if 

possible, brood survival, 4) compare data collected from above objectives between Teshekpuk 

Lake and the Kuparuk Oilfields, and 5) evaluate habitat selection through the use of vegetation or 

land cover databases. 

DESCRIPTION: 

We included two main study sites on the North Slope of Alaska; Teshekpuk Lake and the 

Kuparuk Oil Fields. Accessible areas around Teshekpuk Lake and Kuparuk were searched for 

pre-nesting and nesting King Eiders during the summers of 2002 and 2003. King Eiders typically 

incubate for 22-24 days and all nests were monitored weekly during this period. Habitat type 

within 50 m of each nest and at random locations were classified post-hatch as to type. We 

captured females on nests about 1 week prior to hatch and attached 8g VHF transmitters 

between the wings with epoxy in 2002. Due to transmitter loss in 2002, 10g VHF transmitters 

were attached to females using an anchor and suture technique in 2003. After hatch, hens were 

located every two to five days until chicks were 30 days old or the female was observed twice 

without a brood. We recorded number of ducklings in brood, number of hens and ducklings if 

broods had amalgamated, general behavior, general habitat description, and any predators 

observed in vicinity. 
SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS: 

The time of departure of males from the breeding grounds varied slightly between years, this is 

likely correlated with initiation of incubation and spring conditions. We were unable to document 

the timing of departure from the breeding sites for females with young adequately. However, the 

few females that we followed at Teshekpuk appeared to leave the study area very quickly after 

hatch. Kuparuk females experienced low brood survival but survival was not correlated with 

distance moved per day. 

King Eiders at Teshekpuk selected nest sites on islands in or near larger lakes, away from other 

nesting King Eiders, and avoided low polygons. At the microhabitat level they selected nest sites 

in moist tundra or moist salix dominated tundra and avoided tussock tundra dominated sites. King 

Eiders at Teshekpuk experienced increased nest success on islands. This is likely due to fewer 

mammalian predators on the islands. Nesting on an island would not confer any protection from 

avian predators but may well from mammalian predators, i.e. arctic fox. King Eider nest sites at 

Kuparuk were more likely to be found near conspecific nests, Glaucous Gulls, peninsulas, and on 

islands; and were unlikely to be found very close to water, troughs, or high center polygons. At 

the microhabitat scale, King Eiders at Kuparuk avoided choosing sites in the dry vegetation 

classification. Again, nests on islands experienced higher success. 

STUDY RESULTS: 

Prior to this study, there has been little known about King Eider breeding biology and what was 

known was from a semi-colonial island nesting population in arctic Canada. In what is likely a 

more typical scenario across the breeding range of King Eider, we found King Eider nesting 

dispersed and solitary on very small islands in tundra thaw lakes, and near the margins of these 

lakes. We determined that nest success was very low at both sites; this is not surprising for a long 

lived large bodied species, and is not necessarily a cause for concern. King Eiders often nested 

on islands, probably to avoid nest predators. Brood survival was also low and females with 

broods left the breeding areas fairly soon after hatch. As this point we do not know where King 

Eider broods go during the brood rearing period, and this knowledge would be important to 

mitigate and minimize any impacts of oil extraction on the North Slope of Alaska. We found that 

King Eider select sites where the microhabitat is moist (close to water), potentially for predator 

avoidance or easy access to food sources. 

We cannot make direct implications of any effect of oil development with this study. With only one 

oilfield site and one undisturbed site we cannot determine that any differences between the sites 

are due to development. Differences could be an effect of distance to coast, habitat quality, size 

of wetlands, or a number of other factors as well as anthropogenic disturbance. However, we feel 

that this data was important in understanding the nesting ecology of King Eider and in the case of 

the Teshekpuk site, may give us an excellent baseline data set if development does proceed in 

that area. 

STUDY PRODUCT(S): 

McGuire, R. and A. Powell. 2005. Incubation behavior of king eiders on the North Slope of 

Alaska. Annual Meeting, Pacific Seabird Group/Waterbird Society Meeting, 19-23 January, 

Portland, OR. 

McGuire, R., A. Powell, and R. Suydam. 2005. Breeding biology and habitat use of king eiders 

on the coastal plain of northern Alaska. 10th Annual MMS Information Transfer Meeting, 

Anchorage, AK. 

McGuire, R. L., R. Suydam, and A. N. Powell. 2005. Breeding biology and habitat use of king 

eider on the coastal plain of northern Alaska. CMI Annual Research Review, University of 

Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 

McGuire, R. L., L. Phillips, R. Suydam, and A. N. Powell. 2004. Breeding biology and habitat use 

by king eider (Somateria spectabilis) at Teshekpuk Lake and Kuparuk oilfields on the North 

Slope of Alaska. CMI Annual Research Review, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 
McGuire, R., L. Phillips, A. N. Powell, and R. Suydam. 2004. Factors influencing king eider nest 

survival on Alaska's North Slope. 16 March 2004, Alaska Bird Conference, Anchorage, AK. 

Mike Knoche, Rebecca McGuire, Laura Phillips, and Heather Wilson. 2004. Alaska's eiders. 

Presentation at Alaska Bird Observatory’s seminar series. 

McGuire, R. L., L. Phillips, R. Suydam, and A. N. Powell. 2004. Breeding biology and habitat use 

of king eiders on the coastal plain of northern Alaska. 

McGuire, R. L., L. Phillips, R. Suydam, and A. N. Powell. 2003. Breeding biology and habitat use 

by king eider (Somateria spectabilis) at Teshekpuk Lake and Kuparuk oilfields on the North 

Slope of Alaska. CMI Annual Research Review, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 

McGuire, R. L., L. Phillips, R. Suydam, and A. N. Powell. 2002. Breeding biology and habitat use 

by king eider at Teshekpuk Lake and Kuparuk oil fields on the north slope of Alaska. 

Poster; North American Sea Duck Conference, 6-10 November 2002, Victoria, B.C. 

Powell, A. N. 2002. Ecology of king eiders on Alaska's North Slope. Oral paper presented at the 

MMS Information Transfer Seminar, Anchorage, AK. 

Reports: 

Powell, A. N., R. Suydam, and R. McGuire. 2004. Breeding Biology of King on the Coastal Plain 

of Northern Alaska. Annual Report, CMI, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 

Powell, A. N., R. Suydam, R. McGuire, and L. Phillips. 2004. Breeding biology and habitat use of 

King Eiders on the Coastal Plain of Northern Alaska. Report to the Sea Duck Joint Venture, 

Endorsed Study No. 25. http://www.seaduckjv.org/ssna.html 

Powell, A. N., R. Suydam, and R. McGuire. 2003. Breeding Biology of King on the Coastal Plain 

of Northern Alaska. Annual Report, CMI, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 

Powell, A. N., R. Suydam, R. McGuire, and L. Phillips. 2003. Breeding biology and habitat use of 

King Eiders on the Coastal Plain of Northern Alaska. Report to the Sea Duck Joint Venture, 

Endorsed Study No. 25. http://www.seaduckjv.org/ssna.html 

Powell, A. N., R. Suydam, and R. McGuire. 2002. Breeding Biology of King on the Coastal Plain 

of Northern Alaska. Annual Report, CMI, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 
Focus area for Breeding Biology of King Eiders on the Coastal Plain of Northern Alaska