Page 383 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

BIRDS 381

ORDER ANSERIFORMES five eggs and raising a single brood ORDER ANSERIFORMES ORDER ANSERIFORMES
each year. Like many birds in the High
Brant Goose Arctic, their numbers undergo steep Magellanic Flightless Common Shelduck
fluctuations. In mild summers, most of
Branta bernicla their goslings survive, but if conditions Steamer Duck Tadorna tadorna
LENGTH 22–26 in are unusually cold, very few young LENGTH 23–26 in
(55–66 cm) live long enough to migrate when Tachyeres pteneres (58–67 cm)
1
WEIGHT 3–3 / 2 lb summer comes to an end. LENGTH 24–30 in WEIGHT 2–3 / 4 lb
1
(1.3–1.6 kg) (61–76 cm) (0.85–1.45 kg)
3
WEIGHT 8 / 4 –10 lb
HABITAT Estuaries, HABITAT Coasts,
tundra, coastal grassland (4.0–4.5 kg) estuaries, salt lakes
HABITAT Rocky coasts,
DISTRIBUTION Arctic (breeding); North America, DISTRIBUTION Europe, North Africa, Asia
northwest Europe, China, Japan (non-breeding) inshore waters
DISTRIBUTION Southern South America With its brightly colored body
A compact bird with a gray body, and orange-red bill, the common
black head, and black neck, the brant This heavily built duck is one of three shelduck is an eye-catching inhabitant
goose breeds in the High Arctic closely related species, all from South of muddy shores. Normally seen in
but winters on coasts at temperate America, that have lost the ability to pairs, it feeds by dabbling in mud to
latitudes—a pattern followed by many fly. Like other steamer ducks, it has collect small animals exposed by the
other wildfowl. Its preferred food mottled gray plumage, yellow legs, falling tide. It nests in
is eelgrass, a marine plant that grows and a robust, yellow-orange bill. It holes, and raises up
in shallow water, but in its winter feeds on mussels, crabs and other small to nine young each
quarters it also grazes in coastal fields. animals, diving among kelp beds to year. After breeding,
Brant geese nest in colonies in find its food. If threatened, it paddles common shelducks
low-lying coastal tundra, laying up to noisily across the water with its wings, gather together to
a behavior known as “steaming.” moult in flocks of
up to 100,000 birds.
ORDER ANSERIFORMES HUMAN IMPACT
Common Eider EIDERDOWN
To keep the eggs and young
Somateria mollissima
LENGTH 20–28 in warm, female eiders line their
(50–71 cm) nest with down feathers plucked
1
3
WEIGHT 2 / 4 –6 / 4 lb from their breast. Eiderdown is
(1.2–2.8 kg) a superb insulator and has long
HABITAT Shallow been used as a filling for clothes
coasts, estuaries and bedding. It is still collected
DISTRIBUTION Arctic Ocean, north Atlantic, in Iceland, although demand
north Pacific has dwindled following the
introduction of synthetic fibers.
This heavily built duck is a common
sight on Arctic coasts, where it dives ORDER ANSERIFORMES
to catch mollusks and crabs, cracking
them open with its powerful bill. The Red-breasted
females are mottled brown, while the
males (below) are mainly black and Merganser
white, with a pink breast and greenish
neck. Common eiders breed in Mergus serrator
groups, building their nests close to LENGTH 20–23 in
(52–58 cm)
the sea. After the breeding season, they
1
3
move to more temperate zones in the WEIGHT 2 / 4 –2 / 4 lb
(1–1.25 kg)
south of their range
for the winter HABITAT Coasts,
estuaries, lakes, rivers
months. DOWN OF THE COMMON EIDER
DISTRIBUTION Arctic and subarctic (breeding);
temperate coasts (non-breeding)

This is one the most widespread
sawbill ducks—ducks that have narrow
beaks with serrated edges, like the
teeth of a saw. All these birds dive for
fish, using their specially adapted bills
to grip their slippery prey. Like other
sawbills, the red-breasted merganser
has an elongated body, a long neck,
and orange-red legs. Males (right) have
a metallic green head and shaggy crest,
while the female’s head is rust-colored,
with a less flamboyant crest. These
birds breed near fresh water, but spend
the winter on coasts, where
the water is less likely to freeze.
Females build a nest in dense cover,
or in a tree-hole, lining it with down.
They lay up to 11 eggs, raising a single
brood a year. Red-breasted mergansers OCEAN LIFE
are hunted in some parts of their range
in order to protect fish stocks, although
there is little evidence that they
actually do much harm.