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Common eider

Somateria mollissima

Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758) · Anatidae WoRMS 137074

Reference photos

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The UK's heaviest duck, and a true seaduck rarely found away from the coast. The male is boldly black and white with a pale green patch on the nape; the female is brown with black barring. Both share the same wedge-shaped bill and head shape. Eiders dive for mussels and other molluscs, and are very sociable, riding the swell close to shore in flocks up to several hundred strong.

Depth

Dives for food mostly in 2-10 m of water, and can reach 40 m or more

Size

Length 55-60 cm, wingspan 94 cm, weight about 2.2 kg; the UK's heaviest duck

Habitat

Coastal seas year round, rarely straying from the coast; nests in colonies on northern coasts and small offshore isles

Behaviour

Very sociable, riding the swell close to shore in flocks up to several hundred strong; ducklings gather in guarded creches

Diet

I eat

  • Blue mussels and other bivalve molluscs, taken on dives
  • Crabs and other crustaceans
  • Echinoderms, with some aquatic insects and small fish

Eats me

  • Great skuas (bonxies), which take adult females at and near the nest
  • Large gulls and great skuas (bonxies), which take many young chicks

Where you'd find it

Mostly seen in the North Sea and the waters west of Scotland, and only here and there elsewhere. It has not been recorded in the Celtic Sea and the waters west of Ireland.

ChannelCeltic SeaNorth SeaIrish SeaW of IrelandW of Scotland
Often seenNow and thenNot recordedWhere PEBL filmsBased on marine survey records (OBIS). Blank seas can mean nobody has looked there, not that the animal is absent.

Sources

Open-access references behind this page. Every statement on this page was read out of one of them; anything that could not be traced to a source was taken off the page rather than left standing. Each link was checked on the date shown, and confirmed then to be about this species.

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