Aug. 9, 2015 - Common Eider

When Diana and I were in Lubec, Maine, our motel room overlooked the harbor. One morning, this juvenile male Common Eider put on a show for me right in front of our balcony. He hatched a year ago and is now molting into adult plumage, which is why he looks so mottled.

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Here’s a pair of adult Common Eiders photographed on our trip to Iceland in May, 2014. When the juvenile Eider finishes molting, he’ll look like the male (black and white plumage) in this photo.

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Common Eiders are large sea ducks found in the north Atlantic as far south as Maine. They breed on small islands and spend the rest of the year along the ocean coast.

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I watched this Eider for about an hour as he dove and caught crabs to eat. He was very efficient, bringing up a crab almost every time he dove.

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He first broke off the crab legs and ate them one at a time.

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Most of the legs were already eaten off this crab.

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When all the legs were gone, he swallowed the whole body of the crab. Muscles in his gizzard are able to break up the shell of the crab so he can digest it.

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