Eider

This article is about the seaducks. For the river, see Eider (river). For other uses, see Eider (disambiguation).

Eider
King eider in breeding plumage
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Merginae
Genus: Somateria
Leach, 1819
Type species
Anas spectabilis (king eider)
Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Synonyms

The eiders (/ˈaɪ.dər/) are large seaducks in the genus Somateria. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.[2]

The down feathers of eider ducks and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilts—they have given the name to the type of quilt known as an eiderdown.[3]

Taxonomy

The genus Somateria was introduced in 1819 to accommodate the king eider by the English zoologist William Leach in an appendix to John Ross's account of his voyage to look for the Northwest Passage.[4][5] The name is derived from Ancient Greek σῶμα : sōma "body" (stem somat-) and ἔριον : erion "wool", referring to eiderdown.[6]

Steller's eider (Polysticta stelleri) is in a different genus despite its name.[7]

Species

The genus contains three species.[7]

Genus Somateria – Leach, 1819 – three species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Common eider


Male
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Female

Somateria mollissima
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Six subspecies
 northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 NT 


King eider


Male
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Female

Somateria spectabilis
(Linnaeus, 1758) 		northeast Europe, North America and Asia
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Spectacled eider


Male
{{{image-alt2}}}
Female

Somateria fischeri
(Brandt, 1847) 		coasts of Alaska and northeastern Siberia.
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Two undescribed species are known from fossils, one from Middle Oligocene rocks in Kazakhstan and another from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, United States. The former may not actually belong in this genus.

See also

The Barrow Duck-In, a 1961 protest against game preservation laws in Alaska, when many eider ducks were shot out-of-season to provoke mass arrests.

References

  1. ^ Jarocki, F.P. (1819). Spis ptaków w gabinecie zoologicznym Królewsko Warszawskiego Uniwersytetu znayduiących się, a podług naynowszego systemu ustawionych (in Polish). Warszawa: nakł. i drukiem Zawadzkiego i Węckiego Uprzywilejowanych Drukarzy i Księgarzy Dworu Królestwa. p. 62.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Kenn (2001). Lives of North American Birds. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 96. ISBN 0-395-77017-3.
  3. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Tweet of the Day, Eider". Bbc.co.uk. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  4. ^ Leach, William Elford (1819). Ross, John (ed.). A Voyage of Discovery made under the orders of the Admiralty in her Majesty's ships Isabella and Alexander, for the purpose of exploring Baffin's Bay, and enquiring into the probability of a North-West passage. London: John Murray. Appendix II, p. 48.
  5. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 487.
  6. ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 359. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Eider (Duck)".