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The Siberian eider is a prominent representative of the Anseriformes, which prefers to inhabit the Arctic coasts and tundras. In recent years, the number of gags has plummeted and individual representatives have been noted on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Low-visible migratory duck was added to the Red Book as a species requiring strict security measures.
Appearance
The Siberian gaga is a miniature representative of other gaga, visually commensurate with the mallard. The size of her body does not exceed half a meter, and the wingspan reaches an average of 75 cm. The weight of medium-sized males fluctuates in the range of 700–1000 g, while females are even smaller - 400–700 g.
The female of the Siberian eider is darker than ordinary - its feathers are painted in brown or reddish tones with a characteristic transverse pattern. From afar, the head appears darker than the body (dark brown), and a white mask is visible around the eyelids. Visible on the body and a blue mirror with white edging.The female does not change its plumage during the year.
Young eider is a little lighter than adult females, and their mirrors are dimmer.
The tuft of young and adults in the summer plumage is visually less than that of the latter during the mating season. Underwings are also lighter, beak and legs are gray with blue tint.
The molt of the Siberian gag comes regularly twice a year, while the plumage is completely updated after mating. Partially changing the main feathers and before the start of the mating season.
Lifestyle and behavior
Researchers note that Siberian eiders are distinguished by inconspicuousness and calm, they rarely give voice. They fly mostly at an altitude of up to 50 meters above the water surface, descending for active dives after prey. Most of the life of the bird prefers the vast expanses of water to flying.
As feed, the bird uses crustaceans and invertebrate creatures (toads, mollusks, snails, etc.), insects (water meter, mosquito, caddis larva), as well as small fish and fry. Siberian eider also doesn’t stop with vegetable food - a floating rdest, zoster and algae are used.
Most birds live in separate individuals, rarely gathering in colonies (usually for breeding, nesting and wintering).
Puberty birds reach 3 years of age. After the pair is formed, the Siberian eider forms nests, for which it searches for floodplain sedge marsh or overgrown reservoirs. The nest is a small dug hole, which is well lined with moss, dried grass and brown fluff of parents. Gaga lays an average of 6-10 small eggs with an olive or brown tint.The incubation of the clutch lasts up to a month, while the male leaves the female immediately (approximately mid-summer), flies to the sea and does not participate in the breeding of offspring. The female with young animals descends to small ponds and lakes, rolls the chicks on their backs up to their ability to climb the wing themselves. In some cases, broods are combined. Males in this period move westward along the sea coast, where they update the plumage.
Young birds, not ready for puberty, spend the whole summer on the sea coasts.
In winter, Siberian eiders gather at the Baltic and Norwegian shores.
Habitat and conservation status
Birds prefer the Arctic coast of Alaska and Siberia for nesting. They often overwinter in non-freezing areas of the Arctic oceans and seas, the Kuril and Commander Islands, Kamchatka, the coast of the Scandinavian countries.
The indigenous population of these places hunts for these quiet birds. They are shot from a gun along with other arctic ducks (most often in the spring, since the rest of the time the eider is imperceptible).
Other factors also affect the decline in the population of these ducks: predator pressure, climatic conditions, pollution of the coastal areas with oil products, human economic activity, and drainage of water bodies.
The Siberian Gaga was listed in the IUCN Red Book in Yakutia, Kamchatka, and the Russian Federation.
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