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Common Eider — printable fact sheet
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Common Eider
Somateria mollissima
Somateria mollissima is the largest duck in the Northern Hemisphere and a specialist at eating things that fight back with armour. It dives to the seabed, tears blue mussels off the rock, and swallows them whole, shell included; a muscular gizzard then crushes the shells and the…
Did you know?
- Eider females sometimes share parental duties, forming 'crèches' where several hens tend to their ducklings together.
- The Latin species name mollissima means "softest," a direct reference to the down. Eiders can dive to around 20 m and forage in water cold enough to kill an unprotected human in minutes, insulated entirely by the same down they donate to the nest. Because a female may lose 40 percent of her body weight while incubating, the timing of her fat reserves — laid down before she ever reaches the colony — determines whether the brood survives. Icelandic eider farmers protect colonies from foxes and gulls, so the ducks nest voluntarily beside houses and even under garden furniture.
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