oath-pensions lives in the northern coast-areas the newcomer and the old world. The spread-main focus of the type-group lies at the coast of the Nordostsibirischen sea. From the holarktischen brood-areas, they move southwards into ice-free waters in the winter. Then, one can find the check-duck (Polysticta stelleri) or the splendor-oath-pension (Somateria spectabilis) also at German coasts. The actual oath-pension (Somateria mollissima) is brood-bird even isolated on the North-Frisian islands and occurs also in Central Europe as single type as far as at northwest-France's coasts.
Shape The oath-pensions have a wedge-shaped beak, that carries a frontal-fort-sentence with two types and gives a distinctive look to the type-group. This can swell with the splendor-oath-pension in the splendor-dress to a gigantic forehead-hump. The difference between the sexes (Geschlechtsdimorphismus) is very big above all in the coloring. The adult drakes have a strikingly green coloring at the head, a black stomach and a mainly white upper side, in the splendor-dress; they are dun in the silence-dress like the females.
Way of life Until on the smallest type, the check-duck, oath-pensions are big, on the country clumsy and heavily working birds. On the water, however, they appear as good swimmers and divers, who cope well even with strong swell. So, its food more rarely consists of mollusks, crabs and cancers of the sea, small fish and plant-parts are taken in.
Reproduction The oath-pension (Somateria mollissima) looks for gladly rocky Meeresküsten, for which islands and sandbanks are offshore, particularly during the incubation. On Iceland, it broods in colonies of 100 up to 1000 pairs. The drakes perform courtship display on high sea the whole winter over, only later, the females take part in so that the climax begins in April. After the pair-formation, the birds advance on the country, and the female positions a nest in a hollow from plant-sharing, that are from-dressed with the known "Eiderdaunen", that the female from-plucks itself for this purpose.
First-nests consist of 4-7 (rarely up to 12) eggs, after-nests from 1-3 eggs. 25-30 days, the female, during whom drake retreats again already during the incubation on the sea, broods firmly. As soon as the chicks hatched, the mother also leads it on the sea and takes care of it until into the late summer here. From October, the drakes come again together with the females and squabs.
Nature conservation The oath-pensions were pursued strongly because of its downs, was protected in the big brood-areas in Norway and Iceland meanwhile, however. One fenced in the colonies here, and the first both nests are used by Absammeln of the Nestdunen economically, only the smaller third nest comes to the Aufzucht so that the conservation possibly appears.
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