Common Eider

Common Eider
Adult drake
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Merginae
Genus:	Somateria
Species:	S. mollissima
Binomial name
Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
S. m. mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758) (European Eider) S. m. faeroeensis C. L. Brehm, 1831 (Faeroe Eider) S. m. v-nigra Bonaparte and G. R. Gray, 1855 (North Pacific Eider) S. m. borealis (C. L. Brehm, 1824) (North Atlantic Eider) S. m. sedentaria Snyder, 1941 (Hudson Bay Eider) S. m. dresseri Sharpe, 1871 (American Eider)
Green: breeding Blue: winter/feeding

The Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, is a large (50–71 cm body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on coastal waters. It can fly at speeds up to 113 km/h (70 mph).^[2]

The eider's nest is built close to the sea and is lined with the celebrated eiderdown, plucked from the female's breast. This soft and warm lining has long been harvested for filling pillows and quilts, but in more recent years has been largely replaced by down from domestic farm-geese and synthetic alternatives. Although eiderdown pillows or quilts are now a rarity, eiderdown harvesting continues and is sustainable, as it can be done after the ducklings leave the nest with no harm to the birds.

Description

The Common Eider is the largest duck found in Europe and in North America (except for the Muscovy Duck which only reaches North America in a wild state in southernmost Texas). It measures 50 to 71 cm (20 to 28 in) in length, weighs 0.81 to 3.04 kg (1.8 to 6.7 lb) and spans 80–110 cm (31–43 in) across the wings.^[3][4] It is characterized by its bulky shape and large, wedge-shaped bill. The male is unmistakable, with its black and white plumage and green nape. The female is a brown bird, but can still be readily distinguished from all ducks, except other eider species, on the basis of size and head shape. This duck's call is a pleasant "ah-ooo." The species is often readily approachable.

Drakes of the European, eastern North American and Asia/western North American races can be distinguished by minor differences in plumage and bill color. Some authorities place the subspecies v-nigra as a separate species.

This species dives for crustaceans and molluscs, with mussels being a favored food. The Eider will eat mussels by swallowing them whole; the shells are then crushed in their stomachs and excreted. When eating a crab the Eider will remove all of its claws and legs and then eat the body in a similar fashion.

It is abundant, with populations of about 1.5-2 million birds in both North America and Europe, and also large but unknown numbers in eastern Siberia (HBW).

A particularly famous colony of eiders lives on the Farne Islands in Northumberland, England. These birds were the subject of one of the first ever bird protection laws, established by Saint Cuthbert in the year 676. About 1,000 pairs still nest there every year. Because St. Cuthbert is the patron saint of Northumberland, it was natural that the eider should be chosen as the county's emblem bird; the birds are still often called Cuddy's ducks in the area, "Cuddy" being the familiar form of "Cuthbert".

The Common Eider is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Social behaviour

Small Eider Creche: three adult females over six ducklings at Biddeford Pool, ME

Eiders are colonial breeders. They nest on coastal islands in colonies ranging in size of less than 100 to upwards of 10,000-15,000 individuals.^[5] Female eiders frequently exhibit a high degree of natal philopatry, where they return to breed on the same island where they were hatched. This can lead to a high degree of relatedness between individuals nesting on the same island, as well as the development of kin-based female social structures.^[6] This relatedness has likely played a role in the evolution of co-operative breeding behaviours amongst eiders. Examples of these behaviours include laying eggs in the nests of related individuals ^[7] and crèching, where female eiders team up and share the work of rearing ducklings.^[8]

Gallery

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  Adult male left, female right

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  Adult male in eclipse plumage

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  Male first winter plumage. Note how similar this is to the adult eclipse plumage.

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  Female

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  In flight

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  Eider duck skin coat

• 

  male

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). Somateria mollissima. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
2. ^ http://www.thetravelalmanac.com/lists/birds-speed.htm
3. ^ [1] (2011).
4. ^ Ogilvie & Young, Wildfowl of the World. New Holland Publishers (2004), ISBN 978-1843303282
5. ^ Chapdelaine, G., P. Dupuis and A. Reed. 1986a. Distribution, abondance at fluctuation des populations d’eider à duvet dans l’estuaire et le golfe du Saint-Laurent. Pp. 6–19 in Eider ducks in Canada (A. Reed, ed.). Canadian Wildlife Service Report Series no. 47, Ottawa, ON.
6. ^ McKinnon, L., H. G. Gilchrist, and K. T. Scribner. 2006. Genetic evidence for kin-based female social structure in common eiders (Somateria mollissima). Behavioral Ecology 17:614-621.
7. ^ Andersson, M. and P. Waldeck. 2007. Host-parasite kinship in a female-philopatric bird population: evidence from relatedness trend analysis. Molecular Ecology 16:2797-2806.
8. ^ Öst, Markus, Colin W. Clark, Mikael Kilpi, and Ron Ydenberg, "Parental effort and reproductive skew in coalitions of brood-rearing female common eiders." The American Naturalist: January 2007

• Scientific discussion about recent hunting regulations on Greenland

External links

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology-Common Eider
• Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas-Common Eider
• Common Eider videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
• Eider Duck Hunting information and pictures.
• YouTube video of Eider eating a crab