Common eider
Common eider | |
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Adult male, breeding plumage | |
Female | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Anseriformes |
Family: | Anatidae |
Genus: | Somateria |
Species: | S. mollissima
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Binomial name | |
Somateria mollissima | |
Subspecies | |
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Range of S. mollissima Breeding range Wintering/Feeding range
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Synonyms | |
Anas mollissima Linnaeus, 1758 |
The common eider (pronounced
The eider's nest is built close to the sea and is lined with 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.
Taxonomy
The common eider was
Six subspecies are recognised:[5]
- S. m. v-nigrum Bonaparte & Gray, GR, 1855 – breeds in northeast Asia and Alaska; winters in the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands
- S. m. borealis (Brehm, CL, 1824) – breeds in northeast Canada, Greenland and Iceland; winters in the north Atlantic
- S. m. sedentaria Snyder, 1941 – breeds in Hudson Bay and James Bay (Canada)
- S. m. dresseri Sharpe, 1871 – breeds in southeast Canada and northeast USA; winters around northwest Atlantic coasts
- S. m. faeroeensis Brehm, CL, 1831 – Faroe Islands
- S. m. mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeds in northwest Eurasia; winters in northwest and central Europe
Description
The common eider is both the largest of the four
Drakes of the European, eastern North American and Asia/western North American races can be distinguished by minor differences in plumage and bill colour. Some authorities place the subspecies v-nigra as a separate species.
This species dives for crustaceans and molluscs, with mussels being a favoured food. The eider will eat mussels by swallowing them whole; the shells are then crushed in their gizzard 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
In Canada's Hudson Bay, important eider die-offs were observed in the 1990s by local populations due to quickly changing ice flow patterns. The Canadian Wildlife Service has spent several years gathering up-to-date information on their populations, and preliminary results seem to show a population recovery.[11][12][13] The common eider is the object of the 2011 documentary People of a Feather,[14] which studies the historical relationship between the Sanikiluaq community and eiders, as well as various aspects of their ecology.[15]
The common eider is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (
Social behaviour
Eiders are colonial breeders. They nest on coastal islands in colonies ranging in size of less than 100 to upwards of 15,000 individuals.[16] 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.[17] 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[18] and crèching, where female eiders team up and share the work of rearing ducklings.[19]
Gallery
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Adult male in eclipse plumage
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Male juvenile in first winter plumage, similar but different from eclipse plumage
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Female
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Male in flight
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Eider duck skin coat
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Traditional man-made eider nesting boxes
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Eider nest on the tundra in the Canadian Arctic
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Small eider creche: three adult females over six ducklings at Biddeford Pool, ME.
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stretching
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Common eider with ducklings swimming
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "The World's Fastest Birds".
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 124.
- ^ Leach, William Elford (1819). Ross, John (ed.). A Voyage of Discovery made under the orders of the Admiralty in her Majesty's ships Isabella and Alexander, for the purpose of exploring Baffin's Bay, and enquiring into the probability of a North-West passage. London: John Murray. Appendix II, p. 48.
- ^ Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ "Common Eider". All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-84330-328-2.
- ISBN 978-0-8493-4258-5.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-5280-5.
- ^ "Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)" (PDF). Sea Duck Information Series. Sea Duck Joint Venture. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ISBN 978-90-481-9120-8.
- doi:10.1139/z06-138.
- IMDbRetrieved 8 February 2012.
- ^ "People of a Feather". Retrieved 8 February 2012.
- ^ Chapdelaine, G.; Dupuis, P.; Reed, A. (1986). "Distribution, abondance et fluctuation des populations d'eider à duvet dans l'estuaire et le golfe du Saint-Laurent" [Distribution, abundance and population fluctuations of the common eider in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence]. In Reed, A. (ed.). Eider ducks in Canada. Canadian Wildlife Service Report Series (in French). Ottawa, ON: Canadian Wildlife Service. pp. 6–11.
- .
- S2CID 5547068.
- S2CID 17841634.
- "New Greenland Government Allows Spring Bird Hunt". Archived from the original on 15 October 2012.
External links
- Common Eider Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas – Common Eider
- "Common eider media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Eider Duck Hunting information and pictures.
- YouTube video of Eider eating a crab
- Feathers of Common Eider (Somateria molissima)
- BirdLife species factsheet for Somateria mollissima
- "Somateria mollissima". Avibase.
- Common eider photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Audio recordings of Common eider on Xeno-canto.