For a decade, our WCS team in Alaska has been monitoring Pacific common eider colonies along the northern coast of the state. Why Pacific common eiders?
About 10 years ago, our experts and many of their peers came together and determined common eiders are the most vulnerable bird species to climate change on the Arctic coast.
That’s why we have focused our work on them: to better understand how environmental and industrial pressures are affecting their breeding success. This information informs conservation efforts.
Venture with us to Arctic Alaska to monitor eider nests with Kayla Shively a conservation ecologist on our team there, and get a sense of what the day-to-day of this role is like.
In my role, I lead field projects assessing the impacts of climate change and development on breeding birds. This summer, a field crew and I traveled to Prudhoe Bay to locate and monitor Pacific common eider nests.
Each day, outfitted in our warmest layers, chest waders, and full-body floatation suits, we journeyed several miles offshore to narrow barrier islands.
In this remote region, these birds primarily nest on these islands, which lie just a few feet above sea level. As a result, the islands are among the most vulnerable habitats to both climate change and coastal oil spills.
We base our operations in Deadhorse, Alaska, an industrial hub near the Prudhoe Bay oilfields and 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle. On our daily commute, we might encounter grizzly bears, Arctic foxes, or herds of caribou.
When ready, Pacific common eider ducklings use their beak to break free from their shells.
Some years, entire colonies fall prey to foxes or polar bears, while many are eggs are lost to glaucous gulls. Climate change and ongoing development may be increasing predation rates.
Pacific common eiders are a species of conservation concern and of great importance to Indigenous food security. As an indicator species, the data we collect on them also sheds light on the broader impacts of climate change on Arctic systems.
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