PROTECTION STATUS: Threatened
YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1997
CRITICAL HABITAT: 2,830 square miles of ocean and 852 miles of Alaska shoreline designated in 2001
RECOVERY PLAN: 2002
RANGE: Eastern coastal Russia, Alaska, including the arctic coastal plain and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and the Bering Sea
THREATS: Oil and gas drilling, human-caused increases in predator populations, lead poisoning, habitat degradation, and global warming
POPULATION TREND: The current population is believed to be between 150,000 and 200,000. The majority of these birds nest in Russia. Estimates indicate that as few as 200 breeding pairs of Steller's eiders remain in Alaska.