{{Short description|Genus of birds}} {{About|the seaducks|the river|Eider (river)|other uses|Eider (disambiguation)}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Eider | image = King Eider and Common Eider (13667559035).jpg | image_caption = King and common eider | taxon = Somateria | authority = Leach, 1819 | type_species = ''Anas spectabilis'' (king eider) | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *''S. mollissima'' *''S. fischeri'' *''S. spectabilis'' | synonyms = * ''Eider'' Jarocki, 1819<ref>{{cite book |last1= Jarocki|first1=F.P.|year= 1819| title= Spis ptaków w gabinecie zoologicznym Królewsko Warszawskiego Uniwersytetu znayduiących się, a podług naynowszego systemu ustawionych | location= Warszawa|publisher= nakł. i drukiem Zawadzkiego i Węckiego Uprzywilejowanych Drukarzy i Księgarzy Dworu Królestwa |page = 62 | language = pl}}</ref> }}
The '''eiders''' ({{IPAc-en|'|ai|.|d|@r}}) are large seaducks in the genus '''''Somateria'''''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Lives of North American Birds|last=Kaufman|first=Kenn|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2001|pages=96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhJwsTkYkoIC&dq=somateria+down+genus&pg=PA96|isbn=0-395-77017-3|location=New York, New York}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03bkcwq |title=BBC Radio 4 - Tweet of the Day, Eider |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=9 July 2015 |access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref> The common eider is the source of true eider down.<ref name=":1">Aston, Felicity. "Down on the Eider Farm". ''Geographical (Geographical Magazine Ltd.)'', vol. 93, no. 3, Mar. 2021, pp. 53–60.</ref> In Iceland and other places where the birds are native, traditional farms cultivate a relationship between the sea birds and the farmers, who collect and clean the down for sale.<ref name=":1" />
==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.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Leach | first=William Elford | author-link=William Elford Leach | editor-last=Ross | editor-first=John | editor-link=John Ross (Royal Navy officer) | year=1819 | title=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 | location=London | publisher=John Murray | at=Appendix II, p. 48 | url=https://archive.org/details/voyageofdiscover00ross/page/48/mode/1up }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=487 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109127 }}</ref> The name is derived from Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|{{linktext|σῶμα}}}} : {{lang|grc-Latn|sōma}} "body" (stem ''somat-'') and {{lang|grc|{{linktext|ἔριον}}}} : {{lang|grc-Latn|erion}} "wool", referring to eiderdown.<ref name= job90>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |page = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n359 359]}}</ref>
Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') is in a different genus despite its name.<ref name=ioc/>
==Species== The genus contains three extant species.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=30 November 2021 }}</ref> {{Species table |genus= Somateria |authority-name=Leach |authority-year=1819 |species-count=three|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}
{{Species table/row |name=Common eider |binomial=Somateria mollissima |image=File:Somateria mollissima -WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England -male-8a.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male |image2 =File:Common eider female at Jones Beach (04713).jpg|image2-caption=Female |authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes |range= northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia |range-image=File:Somateria mollissima dis.png |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= NT |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Six subspecies |bullets=on |''S. m. v-nigrum'' Bonaparte & Gray, GR, 1855 | ''S. m. borealis'' (Brehm, CL, 1824) | ''S. m. sedentaria'' Snyder, 1941 | ''S. m. dresseri'' Sharpe, 1871 | ''S. m. faeroeensis'' Brehm, CL, 1831 – Faroe Islands | ''S. m. mollissima'' (Linnaeus, 1758) }} }}
{{Species table/row |name=King eider |binomial=Somateria spectabilis |image=File:King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (13667959444).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male |image2 =File:King Eider female RWD5.jpg|image2-caption=Female |authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes |range= northeast Europe, North America and Asia |range-image=File:Somateria spectabilis map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies= }}
{{Species table/row |name=Spectacled eider |binomial=Somateria fischeri |image=File:San Diego Zoo 40 2016-05-13.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male |image2 =File:Spectacled Eider female RWD.jpg|image2-caption=Female |authority-name=Brandt |authority-year= 1847|authority-not-original=yes |range= coasts of Alaska and northeastern Siberia. |range-image=File:Somateria fischeri map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies= }} {{Species table/end}}
Two undescribed species are known from fossils, one from Middle Oligocene rocks in Kazakhstan<ref>{{cite book |author=Kurochkin, E. N. |year= 1976 |chapter=A Survey of the Paleogene Birds of Asia | title=Collected papers in avian paleontology honoring the 90th birthday of Alexander Wetmore| editor=Olson, Storrs L. |series=Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology |volume=27 | pages=75–86 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/352126}}</ref> and another from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, United States.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Olson, Storrs L. |author2= Rasmussen, Pamela C. |chapter= Miocene and Pliocene Birds from the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina. |year=2001 |title= Geology and Paleontology of the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina III. |editor1= Ray, C.E. |editor2=Bohaska, D.J. |series=Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology |volume=90 |pages=233–307 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/351988}} </ref> The former may not actually belong in this genus.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
==Predation== In Iceland, the American mink is a non-native, invasive predator that has cut eider down production by more than half.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Long-term data reveal contrasting impacts of native versus invasive nest predators in Iceland|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.14313|journal=Ecology Letters|date=December 2023|issn=1461-023X|pages=2066–2076|volume=26|issue=12|doi=10.1111/ele.14313|language=en|first1=Jón Einar|last1=Jónsson|first2=Fiona S.|last2=Rickowski|first3=Florian|last3=Ruland|first4=Árni|last4=Ásgeirsson|first5=Jonathan M.|last5=Jeschke|pmid=37818595 |via=<!-- WP:TWL -->}}</ref> The Arctic fox is another predator of ground-nesting birds.<ref name=":0" />
==Folklore== Since the 12th century, the black-and-white common eider has been known as Saint Cuthbert's ducks in parts of Great Britain.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Mystery of St Cuthbert's Ducks: An Adventure in Hagiography|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26445774|journal=Folklore|date=2016|issn=0015-587X|pages=325–343|volume=127|issue=3|first=Antone|last=Minard|doi=10.1080/0015587X.2016.1203636 |jstor=26445774 |via=JSTOR <!-- WP:TWL -->}}</ref>
==See also== * 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== {{Reflist}} * {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Eider (duck) |volume= 9 |last= Newton |first=Alfred |author-link= Alfred Newton |pages= 132-133 |short= 1}}
{{Odontoanserae|B.|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q690813}}
Category:Somateria Category:Ducks