Common Eider
Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae — Ducks, Geese, Swans
Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, is a sea duck that breeds along the coasts of North America and the Palearctic, from coastal Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands through north-west Europe to Chukotka Peninsula in north-east Russia, and from Alaska across Arctic Canada to Massachusetts in the north-west Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it moves south to France, Kamchatka, the Aleutian Islands and Long Island in New York. Its nest is placed near the sea and lined with eiderdown taken from the female’s breast, a material long used for pillows and quilts.
- Order
- Anseriformes
- Family
- Anatidae — Ducks, Geese, Swans
- Breeding range
- North America, Palearctic: c, s coastal Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Is., nw Europe to Chukotka Pen. (ne Russia), Alaska through Arctic Canada to Massachusetts (nw Atlantic)
- Nonbreeding range
- to France, Kamchatka (se Russia), Aleutian Is., Long I. (New York)
