BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
KINGLY STUDIES
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
If you look at the list of North American birds you'll find five that have created such an impression that they are named "King." I know some of you are already cycling your brains to come up with which ones they are and I'll caution you that I've been known to cheat a bit. More on this later.

King Eiders

Scientists know this week's bird as Somateria spectabilis, translating to a spectacularly wooly body! The genus name was given by William Elford Leach, a scientist at the British Museum in the early 1800s, whose career was cut short by a nervous breakdown at the age of only 31. Perhaps he was already slipping in 1818 when he named many genera either "Caroline" or anagrams thereof, perhaps a lady friend? In reality it was more bizarre than that. Four isopods, Conilera, Rocinela, Nerocila, and Olincera, are anagrams for his wife, Caroline, and three more, Cirolana, Lanocira, and Anilocra, are for his mistress, Carolina!

Enough of that and back to our spectacularly wooly-bodied bird - a duck actually - and a kingly one. We know it as the King Eider, a bird with a large, golden knob just above his bill. The Alaskan natives call them 'nosy birds' because of this. According to an old legend, a King Eider is simply a Common Eider whose age and experience have earned it the right to wear a "crown."

Eiders in general are sea ducks, the drakes mainly black and white, the females, brown. Common Eiders are the ones we see predominantly here. Over the past weeks a flock estimated at 100,000 has been working the rips off 'Sconset. But King Eiders are definitely NOT common here. They are something birders will scramble to see.

My first King Eider was actually a 'queen,' and it was on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. If you see an eider around the Great Lakes it is more likely to be a King Eider. This helped me a lot since the females are devilishly hard to figure out. Anyone else have that problem? Oh wait, we're talking about ducks.

Anyway, both Common and King Eider females are brown with various streaks and scalloped patterns. Female Common Eiders have a very flat sloping profile from beak to the top of their head. Roger Tory Peterson points out that the lobe of the bill on a Common extends closer to the eye and provides excellent illustrations thereof. This would be handy if you could get two of them side-by-side, but they never cooperate.

The drake is unmistakable, at least if it's an adult. They have that wonderful orange knob at the front of their forehead, perhaps like a crown. They appear to have a drooping cap of light gray feathers that hangs down the back of their neck. From a distance they look white in front and black to the rear, unlike the Common Eider that is mainly white with black near the waterline. Unfortunately in the wintertime we get many 'teen-aged' eiders with black and white variations.

I have to go back to May 2004 for my last King Eider. That one, a drake, and a spectacular one it was, was floating in the ocean below the bluff in 'Sconset. If he had a mate with him we could not pick her out but the Sunday bird watchers were celebrating that day.

In the winter season, all eiders are saltwater ducks. They are classed as 'sea' ducks along with the three scoters and the Long-tailed Duck. Hunters can shoot them from early October until late January every year, a very liberal hunting season, although for the life of me I really can't figure how it is sport. Generally no attempt is made to retrieve sea ducks that are shot and they are close to inedible if you do.

King Eiders dive to great depths, sometimes over 60 feet, and feed mainly on shellfish. Their diet changes mostly to plants when they are raising their five chicks in the high Arctic during breeding season. Then they revert to a fresh water habitat, very different from their Common Eider cousins.

We are on the lookout for these birds on Nantucket from November through early May. There are two specimens at Maria Mitchell, one shot by my Godfather and Nantucket Town Clerk, Charles Clark Coffin on the 11th of January, 1964 at Great Point.

And what about the other 'kings?' We have the King Rail, The Kingfisher, the Kingbird, and the Kinglet. I told you I might cheat there, but then there are actually two species of kingbirds found here and also two of kinglets. At least I didn't count the mocKingbird! If you go to Barrow, Alaska, you can stay at the King Eider Inn. Check it out at

http://www.kingeider.net/. I

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles. If you enjoy 'social' birding, join the Nantucket Bird Club at 8 a.m. Sundays in front of Nantucket High School for a two to three hour birding trip. Call 228- 1693 for more information. To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259-8805. Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy1@comcast.net.