Brian Uher-Koch is a wildlife biologist with the USGS Alaska Science Center in Anchorage, and his research concentrates largely on Arctic breeding waterbirds.
The Pribilof Island Seabird Camps usually focuses on locally breeding seabirds like the common murre and black-legged kittiwake, but the islands are also important for sea ducks such as the King Eider and Harlequin. Brian was able to visit the 2021 St. Paul Island camp remotely and shared this informative presentation with campers.
It was a great chance for us to learn more about the similarities and differences in life-style, behavior and diet between sea ducks and seabirds. It was also interesting to learn about the overlapping conservation concerns (climate changes, contaminants, and oil spills) between these two groups of birds. Thank you Brian for sharing your knowledge and passion of sea ducks with us.
Harlequin ducks. Photo by Ram Papish