King eider

Weight

1.62 kg – 1.71 kgsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Wingspan

93 cmsrc for Wingspan

Lifespan

18.9 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet

Longest recorded lifespan

18.9 years

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

marinesrc for Habitat

Egg incubation

23.3 dayssrc for Egg incubation

Young per litter or clutch

4.5 – 4.7src for Young per litter or clutch

Age at maturity

2 years – 2.24 yearssrc for Age at maturity

Litters or clutches a year

1src for Litters or clutches a year

Lifestyle

Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle

Migration

Migratorysrc for Migration

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The king eider is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

1. LCLeast Concern
2. NTNear Threatened
3. VUVulnerable
4. ENEndangered
5. CRCritically Endangered
6. EWExtinct in the Wild
7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classAves
4. orderAnseriformes
5. familyAnatidae
6. genusSomateria
7. SpeciesSomateria spectabilis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Anas beringii, Anas spectabilis, Anas spectabilis, Anas superba, Anser beringii, Fuligula spectabilis, Platypus altensteinii

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

NT, Near Threatened

Common eider

Somateria mollissima

Anatidae

NT, Near Threatened

Spectacled eider

Somateria fischeri

Anatidae

C

Common eider x king eider

Somateria mollissima x spectabilis

AnatidaeNo free photo yet

CompareKing eider vs Common eiderKing eider vs Spectacled eiderKing eider vs Common eider x king eider

• An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
  Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
• AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
  Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
• Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
  Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
• Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
  Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
• Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
• Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

@misc{king_eider_2026,
  title = {King eider (Somateria spectabilis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/king-eider},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}