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STUDY TITLE: Importance of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea to King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) 

REPORT TITLE: Importance of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea to King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) 

CONTRACT NUMBER: 1435-01-98-CA-30909; TASK ORDER: 15182 

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Alaska 

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA: Beaufort Sea 

FISCAL YEAR OF PROJECT FUNDING: 2001 

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: May 2005 

COST: $124,928 

PROJECT MANAGER: Abby N. Powell 

AFFILIATION: USGS, Alaska Cooperative Fisheries and Wildlife Research Unit, and University 

of Alaska, Fairbanks 

ADDRESS: 209 Irving I Bldg., University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7020. 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS*: Abby N. Powell, Laura M. Phillips, Eric E. Rexstad, and Eric J. 

Taylor 

KEY WORDS: Alaska, Beaufort Sea, distribution, king eider, migration, satellite telemetry, 

Somateria spectabilis

*P.I.’s affiliation may be different from that listed for Project Manager. 

BACKGROUND: 

King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) spend the majority of their annual cycle in remote marine 

habitats, precluding direct observation and contributing to an incomplete understanding of their 

life histories. Alaskan-breeding King Eiders disperse from nesting areas on the Arctic Coastal 

Plain and move through the Beaufort Sea to wing molt and wintering locations in the Bering Sea. 

Hundreds of thousands of King Eiders use the Alaskan Beaufort Sea as a flyway, staging, or 

molting area each year. Development of offshore oil resources on natural and artificial islands in 

the Beaufort Sea has prompted managers to fund baseline studies about the distribution of King 

Eiders in the sea. These data are critical to model potential consequences from oil spills and to 

provide regulatory agencies with opportunities to modify proposed developments and associated 

activities to minimize impacts. Potential impacts from oil spills may include displacement of eiders 

from foraging habitat, contamination of food resources, and mortality from oiling. King Eiders 

perform wing molt, fall, and spring migrations, and presumably this migratory behavior has 

adapted as an advantage to provide the greatest potential reproductive success for individuals. 

This study was developed with two broad objectives: (1) to determine the use of the Beaufort Sea 

as a flyway and staging area and the management implications of oil development in the sea, and 

(2) to provide an initial description of the migration and non-breeding ecology of king eiders. 

OBJECTIVES: 

The specific objectives of this study were to: (1) document locations of Alaskan-breeding king 

eiders during spring migration and post-breeding staging and migration in the Alaskan Beaufort 

Sea; (2) determine whether use areas in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea differed by season, sex, or 

trapping location, among years, or across time; (3) determine parameters explaining variation in 

number of days king eiders spent within the Alaskan Beaufort Sea; (4) determine the timing of 

migratory movements throughout the annual cycle and variation in timing between the sexes and 
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among years; (5) relate timing of individual movements with distance traveled on migration, 

latitude of wing molt and wintering areas, and length of time spent at wing molt sites; (6) 

determine whether individuals were distributed evenly by sex and among years during wing molt 

and wintering periods; and (7) describe oceanographic and physical characteristics of wing molt 

and wintering areas. 

DESCRIPTION: 

We employed the use of satellite telemetry to determine areas used by king eiders in the Alaskan 

Beaufort Sea, how distributions of used areas varied, and parameters that explained variation in 

the number of days spent in the sea. We collected location data of 60 individuals (27 females 

and 33 males) over three years (2002–2004) from satellite telemetry and obtained oceanographic 

information from remotely-sensed data. 

SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS: 

1. King Eiders may not use the Alaskan Beaufort Sea extensively for staging prior to arrival at 

breeding grounds in Alaska in spring. 

2. King Eiders were most concentrated in the areas of Smith Bay and Harrison Bay in the Alaskan 

Beaufort Sea during post-breeding, supporting the results of previous studies. 

3. Impacts from oil development in the Beaufort Sea may disproportionately affect female King 

Eiders whose concentrated use and longer residence times in Harrison and Smith Bays 

suggest they may be less likely to disperse from spill areas to other sites. 

4. There was variation in timing of wing molt between sexes and among years which suggests an 

interrelationship of the breeding and wing molt periods. 

5. King Eiders arriving earlier at wing molt sites flew shorter distances on molt migration, 

potentially incurring lower costs of migration than birds arriving later. 

6. New wing molt and wintering locations for King Eiders were located in the Alaskan Beaufort 

Sea, Olyutor Bay, and the west side of the Kamchatka Peninsula. 

7. Throughout the non-breeding period King Eiders inhabited relatively shallow, near shore areas 

characterized by low salinity. 

STUDY RESULTS: 

This study provides an initial look at the life history events of King Eiders outside the breeding 

period and should benefit planning future studies to better understand requirements of eiders 

during migration, wing molt, and winter. Our findings support the idea of an annual cycle of 

interrelated life history events, but variation in timing and distribution of King Eiders during 

staging, wing molt, and winter would be better understood with more years of data as well as a 

sample of successfully breeding females and young of the year. Spring staging locations are 

likely critical to eiders as refuge from heavy ice and as foraging areas. King Eiders rely on 

endogenous for egg-laying, and disturbance or degradation of staging areas could have a 

disproportionately large impact on eider productivity. Ledyard Bay should be further investigated 

as a key stopover site for King Eiders on spring migration. King Eiders have not been studied 

using direct observations during the non-breeding period in the Bering Sea. Measuring habitat 

parameters and observing behavior of King Eiders at some of the major wing molt and wintering 

locations in the Bering Sea such as Chukotka, Olyutor Bay, Bristol Bay and St. Lawrence Island 

using ground or aerial observations would add greatly add to our understanding of their nonbreeding ecology. 

STUDY PRODUCTS:

Presentations:

Phillips, L. M. 2005. Migration ecology and distribution of king eiders throughout the nonbreeding period. Master’s Thesis Seminar, 19 April, Department of Biology and Wildlife, 

University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 

Phillips, L., A. Powell, E. Taylor. 2005. Use of the Beaufort Sea by king eiders. 10th Annual MMS 

Information Transfer Meeting, Anchorage, AK. 
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Powell, A. N., E. Rexstad, E. Taylor, and L. Phillips. 2005. Importance of the Beaufort Sea to 

king eiders (Somateria spectabilis). CMI Annual Review, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 

AK (L Phillips, presenter). 

Phillips, L. and A. N. Powell. 2005. Large-scale movements and habitat use of king eiders 

throughout the non-breeding season. Annual Meeting, Pacific Seabird Group/Waterbird 

Society Meeting, 19–23 January, Portland, OR. 

Phillips, L., A. N. Powell, and E. Taylor. 2004. Molt migration and ecology of king eiders. Annual 

Meeting, American Ornithologists Union, 16–21 August, Quebec City, QC, Canada. 

Phillips. L. A., A. N. Powell, and E. Taylor. 2004. Migration ecology of king eiders. Alaska Forum 

on the Environment, Anchorage, AK. 

Phillips, L., A. N. Powell, and E. Taylor. 2004. Migration ecology of king eiders. CMI Annual 

Review, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 

Phillips, L., R. McGuire, and M. Knoche. 2004. Alaska's eiders. Presentation at Alaska Bird 

Observatory’ seminar series. 

Phillips, L., A. N. Powell, and E. Taylor. 2003. Importance of the Beaufort Sea to King Eiders. 

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

Phillips, L., A. N. Powell, and E. Taylor. 2003. Importance of the Beaufort Sea to King Eiders. 

2003 Alaska Unit Research Review, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 

Phillips, L., A. N. Powell, and E. Taylor. 2002. Importance of the Beaufort Sea to King Eiders. 

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

Phillips, L., A. N. Powell, and E. Taylor. 2002. Importance of the Beaufort Sea to King Eiders. 

Poster: 2002 Alaska Unit Research Review, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 

Phillips, L. M., A. N. Powell, and E. J Taylor. 2002. Importance of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea to 

king eiders during fall migration. 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. MMS Information Transfer 

Seminar, Anchorage, AK. 

 

Reports:

Phillips, L. M. 2005. Migration ecology and distribution of king eiders. M.S. Thesis, Department 

of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 

Powell, A. N., L. M. Phillips. E. A. Rexstad, and E. J. Taylor. 2004. Importance of the Alaskan 

Beaufort Sea to king eiders (Somateria spectabilis). Annual Report, CMI, University of 

Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 

Powell, A. N., E. Taylor, E. Rexstad, and L. Phillips. 2004. Importance of the Alaskan Beaufort 

Sea to King Eiders. Report to the Sea Duck Joint Venture. 

http://www.seaduckjv.org/ssna.html 

Powell, A. N., L. M. Phillips. E. A. Rexstad, and E. J. Taylor. 2003. Importance of the Alaskan 

Beaufort Sea to king eiders (Somateria spectabilis). Annual Report, CMI, University of 

Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. 

Powell, A. N., E. Taylor, E. Rexstad, and L. Phillips. 2003. Importance of the Alaskan Beaufort 

Sea to king eiders. Report to the Sea Duck Joint Venture. 

http://www.seaduckjv.org/ssna.html 

Powell, A. N., L. M. Phillips. E. A. Rexstad, and E. J. Taylor. 2002. Importance of the Alaskan 

Beaufort Sea to king eiders (Somateria spectabilis). Annual Report, CMI, University of 

Alaska, Fairbanks, AK.