(Credit: U. S. Geological Survey)

Common Eider - Somateria mollissima

Identification Tips:

  1. Length: 17 inches Wingspan: 41 inches
  2. Large diving duck
  3. Bill feathered along side almost to nostril
  4. Long sloping forehead

Adult male alternate:

  1. Several races
  2. Black crown
  3. Greenish rear of head
  4. Dark or yellow bill
  5. Black underparts
  6. White upperparts and breast
  7. Black tail and around tail
  8. Immature male similar to female but has white breast

Adult female:

  1. Dark gray to rusty-brown plumage with fine black barring
  2. Barring on flanks in lines

Similar species:

The adult male King Eider has a bright orange bill and shield and a dark back. Immature male Common Eider has a dark bill while the immature male King Eider has an orange bill. Female King and Common Eiders are very similar but note the barring on the flanks; linear in Common, arrow-shaped in King. King Eiders have steeper foreheads than Commons and the feathering on the bill is different-in the Common Eider it extends farther from the side of the bill toward the nostril and less far down the forehead than the King.