PROTONYM:Anas mollissima
Linnaeus, 1758. Systema Naturæ per Regna Tria Naturæ, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata 1, p.124.
TYPE LOCALITY:
northern Europe; restricted to island of Gotland by Linnaeus, 1761, Fauna Svecica, ed. 2, p. 41.
UPPERCASE: current genusUppercase first letter: generic synonym● and ● See: generic homonymslowercase: species and subspecies●: early names, variants, misspellings‡: extinct†: type speciesGr.: ancient GreekL.: Latin<: derived fromsyn: synonym of/: separates historical and modern geographic namesex: based onTL: type localityOD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
This hardy eider, the largest duck in the Northern Hemisphere, is more closely tied to marine habitats than any other sea duck. It generally inhabits arctic and subarctic coastal marine habitats and has a circumpolar distribution. Its tendency to nest in large colonies on marine islands and to form large aggregations in inshore coastal areas during the nonbreeding season makes this species truly marine in all aspects of its life history. Many populations remain as far north as open water persists in winter where they are associated with polynyas (openings in the ice) and leeward sides of islands free from moving pack ice. Common Eiders are diurnal feeders and dive to pick mollusks and crustaceans from the sea bottom in water depths generally ranging from 10 to 20 meters.
Females are faithful to their natal and breeding areas and frequently reuse the same nest site. Philopatry to wintering sites is likely but unstudied. Common Eiders are known to be seasonally monogamous, and in some populations show long-term pair bonds, while in other populations, they do not.
This species has been exploited throughout its range. Market hunting almost extirpated the southern, or American, race (S. m. dresseri) from the eastern seaboard of North America by the end of the nineteenth century. The Migratory Bird Convention (1916) designated special protection to eiders (Article IV), and largely terminated this excessive commercial hunting. This population is currently healthy but is under increasing harvest pressure. Populations of the Pacific (S. m. v-nigrum), northern (S. m. borealis), and Hudson Bay races (S. m. sedentaria) have declined.
The Common Eider is a well-studied sea duck, mainly because of its immense numbers and profile, its economic importance, and its significance in subsistence harvests in the north (for example, approximately 2,000 references cited in Milne and Dau 1976
Milne, H. and C. P. Dau. (1976). A bibliography of eiders. Québec, Canada: Faune Bull. no. 20. Dep. Tourism, Fish Wildl. Div., Gov. of Québec.
). Key studies are apparent for population dynamics (Milne 1974
Milne, H. (1974). Breeding numbers and reproductive rate of eiders at the Sands of Forvie National Nature Reserve, Scotland. Ibis 116:135-152.
, Reed 1975a
Reed, A. (1975a). Migration, homing, and mortality of breeding female eiders Somateria mollissima dresseri of the St. Lawrence estuary, Québec. Ornis Scandinavica 6:41-47.
, Swennen 1976
Swennen, C. (1976). Population structure and food of the eider Somateria m. mollissima in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Ardea 64:311-371.
, Coulson 1984
Coulson, J. C. (1984). The population dynamics of the Eider Duck Somateria mollissima and evidence of extensive non-breeding by adult ducks. Ibis 126:525-543.
, Krementz et al. 1996
Krementz, D. G., J. E. Hines and D. F. Caithamer. (1996). Survival and recovery rates of American Eiders in east North America. Journal of Wildlife Management 60:855-862.
), juvenile production and habitat (Milne and Reed 1974
Milne, H. and A. Reed. (1974). Annual production of fledged young from the eider colonies of the St. Lawrence estuary. Canadian Field-Naturalist 88:163-169.
, Minot 1980
Minot, E. O. (1980). Tidal, diurnal and habitat influences on Common Eider rearing activities. Ornis Scandinavica 11:165-172.
), juvenile predation and survival (Mendenhall and Milne 1985
Mendenhall, V. M. and H. Milne. (1985). Factors affecting duckling survival of eiders Somateria mollissima in northeast Scotland. Ibis 127:148-158.
, Swennen 1989
Swennen, C. (1989). Gull predation upon eider Somateria mollissima ducklings: destruction or elimination of the unfit? Ardea 77:21-44.
), husbandry and conservation (Doughty 1979
Doughty, R. W. (1979). Eider husbandry in the north Atlantic: trends of prospects. Polar Record 19:447-1459.
, Krohn et al. 1992
Krohn, W. B., P. O. Corr and A. E. Hutchinson. (1992). Status of the American Eider with special reference to northern New England. Washington, D.C: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.
, Goudie et al. 1994a
Goudie, R. I., S. Brault, B. Conant, A. V. Kondratyev and M. R. Petersen. (1994a). The status of sea ducks in the north Pacific rim: toward their conservation and management. Delta, BC: Can. Wildl. Serv., Pacific and Yukon region.
), habitat selection (Guillemette et al. 1993
Guillemette, M., J. H. Himmelman and C. Barette. (1993). Habitat selection by Common Eiders in winter and its interaction with flock size. Canadian Journal of Zoology 71:1259-1266.
), contaminants (Henny et al. 1995
Henny, C. J., D. D. Rudis, T. J. Roffe and E. Robinson-Wilson. (1995). Contaminants and seaducks in Alaska and the circumpolar region. Environ. Health Perspectives 103 (Suppl. 4):41-49.
), physiology (Korschgen 1977
Korschgen, C. E. (1977). Breeding stress of female eiders in Maine. Journal of Wildlife Management 41:360-373.
, Jenssen et al. 1989
Jenssen, B. M., M. Ekker and C. Bech. (1989). Thermoregulation in winter acclimatized Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) in air and water. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67:669-673.
, Parker and Holms 1990
Parker, H. and H. Holms. (1990). Patterns of nutrient and energy expenditure in female Common Eiders nesting in the high arctic. Auk 107:660-668.
, Gabrielsen et al. 1991a
Gabrielsen, G. W., F. Mehlum, H. E. Karlsen, Ø. Andresen and H. Parker. (1991a). Energy cost during incubation and thermoregulation in the female Common Eider. Norsk Polarinstitutt Skrifter 195:51-62.
), parasites (Bishop and Threlfall 1974
Bishop, C. A. and W. Threlfall. (1974). Helminth parasites of the Common Eider, Somateria mollissima (L.), in Newfoundland and Labrador. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 41 (1):25-35.
, Persson et al. 1974
Persson, L., K. Borg and H. Falt. (1974). On the occurrence of endoparasites in eider ducks in Sweden. Viltrevy 9:1-24.
), behavior (McKinney 1961
McKinney, F. (1961). An analysis of the displays of the European Eider Somateria mollissima mollissima (Linneaus) and the Pacific Eider Somateria mollissima v. nigra Bonaparte. Behaviour Suppl. 7:1-124.
, Gorman and Milne 1972
Gorman, M. L. and H. Milne. (1972). Crèche behaviour in the Common Eider Somateria m. mollissima L. Ornis Scandinavica 3:21-25.
, Ydenberg and Guillemette 1991
Ydenberg, R. C. and M. Guillemette. (1991). Diving and foraging in the Common Eider. Ornis Scandinavica 22:349-352.
, Frimer 1995b
Frimer, O. (1995b). Comparative behaviour of sympatric moulting populations of Common Eider Somateria mollissima and King Eider S. spectabilis in central West Greenland. Wildfowl 46:129-139.
), crèching (Munro and Bédard 1977a
Munro, J. and J. Bédard. (1977a). Crèche formation in the Common Eider. Auk 94:759-771.
), phylogeny (Livezey 1995b
Livezey, B. C. (1995b). Phylogeny and evolutionary ecology of modern seaducks (Anatidae: Mergini). Condor 97 (1):233-255.
), subspecies (Mendall 1986
Mendall, H. L. (1986). "Identification of eastern races of the eider." In Eider ducks in Canada., edited by A. Reed, 82-88. Ottawa, ON: Can. Wildl. Serv. Rep. Ser. no. 47.
), and food habits (Madsen 1954
Madsen, F. J. (1954). On the food habits of diving ducks in Denmark. Danish Review of Game Biology 2:157-266.
, Pethon 1967
Pethon, P. (1967). Food and feeding habits of the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima). Nytt Mag. Zool. 15:97-111.
, Player 1971
Player, P. V. (1971). Food and feeding habits of the Common Eider at Seafield, Edinburgh, in winter. Wildfowl 22:100-106.
, Goudie and Ankney 1986
Goudie, R. I. and C. D. Ankney. (1986). Body size, activity budgets, and diets of sea ducks wintering in Newfoundland. Ecology 67:1475-1482.
, Nystrom et al. Nyström et al. 1991
Nyström, K. G. K., O. Pehrsson and D. Broman. (1991). Food of juvenile Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) in areas of high and low salinity. Auk 108:250-256.
).
Goudie, R. I., G. J. Robertson, and A. Reed (2020). Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.comeid.01
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