Common Eider
Somateria mollissima
Family: Ducks, geese, and waterfowl
Common Eider is one of the species in the BirdGuess catalog. The daily puzzle hides a photo and opens it in pieces. You get five guesses.
Did you know
The eider will eat mussels by swallowing them whole; the shells are then crushed in their gizzard and excreted.
The eider's nest is built close to the sea and is lined with eiderdown, plucked from the female's breast.
Examples of these behaviours include laying eggs in the nests of related individuals and crèching, where female eiders team up and share the work of rearing ducklings.