Common eider

Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)

The common eider (Somateria mollissima) is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 2.061 kg, ranging from 1.915 to 2.218 kg, and a wingspan of 98 cm.

Photo: Andreas Trepte · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the common eider

The common eider is an aquatic predator and carnivore of marine habitats, and it is partially migratory.

Weight: 1.92 kg – 2.22 kgsrc for Weight
Length: 50 cm – 71 cmsrc for Length
Wingspan: 98 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan: 23 years – 37.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet: Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food: Not recorded
Habitat: marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation: 26 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch: 4.15src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity: 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year: 1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle: Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
Migration: Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status: Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record: Not recorded

How big is the common eider?

At 71 cm, the recorded maximum length of the common eider is about 42% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the common eider

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Common eider (Somateria mollissima) — Matti Blume · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the common eider live?

Not recorded

What is the common eider?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The common eider (pronounced ) (Somateria mollissima), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large (50–71 cm (20–28 in) in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on coastal waters. It can fly at speeds up to 113 km/h (70 mph).
The eider's nest is built close to the sea and is lined with eiderdown, plucked from the female's breast. This soft and warm lining has long been harvested for filling pillows and quilts, but in more recent years has been largely replaced by down from domestic farm-geese and synthetic alternatives. Although eiderdown pillows or quilts are now a rarity, typically being marketed as luxury goods, eiderdown harvesting continues and is sustainable, as it can be done after the ducklings leave the nest with no harm to the birds.

From the Wikipedia article “Common eider” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_eider&oldid=1380224410), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the common eider endangered?

The common eider is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

LCLeast Concern
NTNear Threatened
VUVulnerable
ENEndangered
CRCritically Endangered
EWExtinct in the Wild
EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.

How is the common eider classified?

kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
classAves
orderAnseriformes
familyAnatidae
genusSomateria
SpeciesSomateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Anas cutberti, Anas mollissima, Anser lanuginosus, Somateria leisleri, Somateria megauros, Somateria norwegica, Somateria planifrons, Somateria platyuros, Somateria stcuthberti

Other names and names in other languages (108)

American eiderEnglish
Cuddy's duckEnglish
EiderEnglish
Eider duckEnglish
St. Cuthbert's duckEnglish
ايدر شائعArabic
عيدر شائعArabic
EdredoneroAragonese
éiderAsturian
Coríu PinaAsturian
Гага звычайнаяBelarusian
Звычайная гагаBelarusian
Обикновена гагаBulgarian
Eider-dumBreton
ÈiderCatalan
èider comúCatalan
kajka mořskáCzech
Hwyaid MwythbluWelsh
hwyaden fwythbluWelsh
ederfuglDanish
EdderfuglDanish
EiderenteGerman
EidergansGerman
St.-CuthbertsenteGerman
ΠουπουλόπαπιαGreek
Κοινή ΠουπουλόπαπιαGreek
(Κοινή) ΠουπουλόπαπιαGreek
Komuna molanasoEsperanto
ordinara molananoEsperanto
eider comúnSpanish
Éider comúnSpanish
hahkEstonian
EiderraBasque
Eider arruntBasque
haahkaFinnish
ÆðaFaroese
eider communFrench
Eider à duvetFrench
EidergusNorthern Frisian
ÉadarIrish
Lacha lochlannachIrish
ColcScottish Gaelic
lach dhonnScottish Gaelic
lach LochlannachScottish Gaelic
lach ruadhScottish Gaelic
lachain ruadhaScottish Gaelic
lachan donnaScottish Gaelic
lachan LochlannachScottish Gaelic
ràc bàn a' chinn uaineScottish Gaelic
ràcan bàna a' chinn uaineScottish Gaelic
Laagh LoghlinaghManx
Laagh LoghlynnaghManx
אדרית שחורת כיפהHebrew
אדרית שחורת-כיפהHebrew
pehelyréceHungarian
AmaulikInuktitut
AmauligruaqInupiaq
aedurIcelandic
aedarfuglIcelandic
ÆðarfuglIcelandic
edredoneItalian
ホンケワタガモJapanese
AavooqKalaallisut
Miteq siorartooqKalaallisut
Hos eyderCornish
EiderintLuxembourgish
paprastoji gagaLithuanian
Lielā pūkpīleLatvian
parastā pūkpīleLatvian
Hakʼaz naalʼeełíNavajo
EaNorwegian Bokmål
eidereendDutch
ÆrfuglNorwegian
Càn·nàr édredonPicard
edredonPolish
edredon (zwyczajny)Polish
Edredon zwyczajnyPolish
êiderPortuguese
eider-comumPortuguese
Eider-edredãoPortuguese
êider-grandePortuguese
Anda lomaRomansh
eiderulRomanian
ГагаRussian
Гага обыкновеннаяRussian
обыкновенная гагаRussian
Улахан турукаанYakut
DunterScots
HávdaNorthern Sami
áktaNorthern Sami
kajka morskáSlovak
gagaSlovenian
navadna gagaSlovenian
pata e detitAlbanian
GavkaSerbian
ГавкаSerbian
Gavka - ГавкаSerbian
ejderSwedish
PuflaTurkish
pufla kaziTurkish
пухівкаUkrainian
Гага звичайнаUkrainian
Звичайна гагаUkrainian
пухівка зеленошияUkrainian
Пухівка (Звичайна гага)Ukrainian
Vịt nhung thườngVietnamese
欧绒鸭Chinese
歐絨鴨Chinese

Catalogue of Life Wikipedia iNaturalist TAXREF Wikidata WoRMS IUCN Red List

Relatives of the common eider

Other species in the same genus Somateria.

King duck

Somateria spectabilis

AnatidaeNo free photo yet

Fischer's eider

Somateria fischeri

AnatidaeNo free photo yet

Common eider x king eider

Somateria mollissima x spectabilis

AnatidaeNo free photo yet

CompareCommon eider vs King duck Common eider vs Fischer's eider Common eider vs Common eider x king eider

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the common eider?

The common eider is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup. It belongs to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.

How heavy is the common eider?

The common eider has an adult body mass of 2.061 kg, with reported values from 1.915 to 2.218 kg.

What does the common eider eat?

The common eider is an aquatic predator and is classed as a carnivore.

Is the common eider endangered?

No. The common eider is listed as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

How long does the common eider live?

The common eider has a lifespan of 23 years, with values up to 37.8 years reported by sources.

Does the common eider migrate?

Yes, the common eider is partially migratory.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Common eider (Somateria mollissima). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-eider

MLA

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BibTeX

@misc{common_eider_2026,
  title = {Common eider (Somateria mollissima)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-eider},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}