June 15, 2014 - Iceland - Common Eider

Common Eiders are actually very common in Iceland. However, when the word common is used in the name of a species, it doesn’t refer to the abundance of the bird. Rather, it means the same species is found in both the Old World (the eastern hemisphere) and the New World (the western hemisphere). This is a male in his black and white breeding plumage. Notice the light green patches on the side of his neck and the rosy pink breast feathers. This photo and the next two were taken in Akranes, Iceland.

EiderCommonmaleArkanesIceland20140513

This is a female Common Eider. Like most female ducks, she does all the incubating of the eggs. Her mottled brown plumage makes her less conspicuous when she is sitting on her nest. She lines her nest with down feathers that are plucked from her body. Eider down is very warm so when she leaves the nest, she covers the eggs with the down to keep them from getting cold. Farmers encourage these ducks to nest in their fields and when the baby ducks hatch and leave the nest, the farmers gather the down and sell it.

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This is an interesting view showing how the brown wing tips cross when a swimming Eider is seen from the back. At 23 to 27 inches long, they are our largest sea ducks.

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Common Eiders are found all around the globe in cold northern seas. They stay pretty close to rocky shorelines and are not usually found inland. This pair was resting on a typical rocky shoreline. We saw them during a boat trip around the Breiðafjörður Islands near Stykkishólmur, Iceland.

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Here’s a male in flight, photographed in Borgarnes, Iceland.

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This is one of my favorite photos of the whole trip. This male Common Eider was swimming in the Heimaey Island harbor off the southern coast of Iceland. The reflections from a nearby ship made beautiful patterns on the water.

EiderCommonmaleHarborWestmanIslandsIceland20140523