Eider

common eider

eider, any of several large sea ducks variously classified as members of the tribe Mergini or placed in a separate tribe Somateriini (family Anatidae, order Anseriformes). Eiders are heavy and round-bodied, with humped bills that produce the bird’s characteristic sloping profile. They are the source of eiderdown—down feathers the hen plucks from her breast to line the nest and cover the eggs in her absence. Eiderdown is used as warm filling for jackets, pillows, quilts, and sleeping bags. In Iceland, where the birds are rigidly protected, a pound of down can be harvested from every 35–40 nests without interrupting the breeding cycle. Hens are mottled dark brown, but drakes of the four species are strikingly patterned and show a peculiar green pigment on the head. In the common eider (Somateria mollissima), with four or five races, differing mainly in length and colour of bill, the drake is mostly white above with black crown, belly, and tail. Like all eiders, this species is at home in the far north. It breeds along icy coasts south to the Netherlands and the Gulf of St. Lawrence; it winters at sea south to France, New England, and the Aleutians.