Eider
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The eiders (/ˈaɪ.dər/) are large seaducks in the genus Somateria. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.[2]
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.[3] The common eider is the source of true eider down.[4] 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.[4]
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.[5][6] The name is derived from Ancient Greek Script error: No such module "Lang". : Script error: No such module "Lang". "body" (stem somat-) and Script error: No such module "Lang". : Script error: No such module "Lang". "wool", referring to eiderdown.[7]
Steller's eider (Polysticta stelleri) is in a different genus despite its name.[8]
Species
The genus contains three extant species.[8] Template:Species table
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Two undescribed species are known from fossils, one from Middle Oligocene rocks in Kazakhstan[9] and another from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, United States.[10] The former may not actually belong in this genus.[citation needed]
Predation
In Iceland, the American mink is a non-native, invasive predator that has cut eider down production by more than half.[11] The Arctic fox is another predator of ground-nesting birds.[11]
Folklore
Since the 12th century, the black-and-white common eider has been known as Saint Cuthbert's ducks in parts of Great Britain.[12]
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
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jarocki, F.P. (1819). Spis ptaków w gabinecie zoologicznym Królewsko Warszawskiego Uniwersytetu znayduiących się, a podług naynowszego systemu ustawionych (in polski). Warszawa: nakł. i drukiem Zawadzkiego i Węckiego Uprzywilejowanych Drukarzy i Księgarzy Dworu Królestwa. p. 62.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kaufman, Kenn (2001). Lives of North American Birds. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 96. ISBN 0-395-77017-3.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."BBC Radio 4 - Tweet of the Day, Eider". Bbc.co.uk. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ a b Aston, Felicity. "Down on the Eider Farm". Geographical (Geographical Magazine Ltd.), vol. 93, no. 3, Mar. 2021, pp. 53–60.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Leach, William Elford (1819). Ross, John (ed.). 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. London: John Murray. Appendix II, p. 48.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 487.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 359. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kurochkin, E. N. (1976). "A Survey of the Paleogene Birds of Asia". In Olson, Storrs L. (ed.). Collected papers in avian paleontology honoring the 90th birthday of Alexander Wetmore. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. Vol. 27. pp. 75–86.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Olson, Storrs L.; Rasmussen, Pamela C. (2001). "Miocene and Pliocene Birds from the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina.". In Ray, C.E.; Bohaska, D.J. (eds.). Geology and Paleontology of the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina III. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. Vol. 90. pp. 233–307.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jónsson, Jón Einar; Rickowski, Fiona S.; Ruland, Florian; Ásgeirsson, Árni; Jeschke, Jonathan M. (December 2023). "Long-term data reveal contrasting impacts of native versus invasive nest predators in Iceland". Ecology Letters. 26 (12): 2066–2076. doi:10.1111/ele.14313. ISSN 1461-023X. PMID 37818595.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Minard, Antone (2016). "The Mystery of St Cuthbert's Ducks: An Adventure in Hagiography". Folklore. 127 (3): 325–343. doi:10.1080/0015587X.2016.1203636. ISSN 0015-587X. JSTOR 26445774 – via JSTOR.
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