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The American subspecies of Common Eider
(Somateria mollissima dresseri)
has been identified as a focal species, and bird of management concern due to increased harvest pressure in eastern North America during the past few decades and severe population declines in the late 19th century from egg collection and overharvesting. American Common Eiders breed along marine coasts, mostly on islands from south-central Labrador, Newfoundland, eastern Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine to Massachusetts, and winter from Newfoundland to New York, with greatest numbers in Maine. The annual breeding population of American Common Eiders in the mid-1980s was estimated to be 71,000 pairs. More recent population trends suggest local declines in the southern part of its range and increases along the northern part of its range. Little information exists on the size of the non-breeding and sub-adult component of the population. Threats to American Common Eiders include increased sport hunting, predation and disturbance during the nesting and brood rearing periods, development of coastal habitats, incidental capture and drowning in commercial fish nets, and commercial harvesting of key food items (e.g. mussels, sea urchins) consumed by eiders.
Date: June 2010
Sources:
Allen, R.B. 2000. Common Eider Assessment. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Retrieved June 2010 from http://references.pearl.maine.edu/kb/uploads/2679/eider.pdf.
Goudie, R. I., G. J. Robertson, and A. Reed. 2000. Common Eider
(Somateria mollissima).
The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.) 546.
Sea Duck Joint Venture. 2004. Sea Duck Information Series: Common Eider
(Somateria mollissima).
Info Sheet # 4. Retrieved June 2010 from http://www.seaduckjv.org/infoseries/coei_sppfactsheet.pdf.
Sea Duck Joint Venture Management Board. 2008. Sea Duck Joint Venture Strategic Plan 2008 - 2012. USFWS, Anchorage, Alaska; CWS, Sackville, New Brunswick. 95 pp. Retrieved June 2010 from http://www.seaduckjv.org/sdjv_strategic_plan_2008-12_final_17dec2008.pdf.
Species Profile from NatureServe (*information only at the species level*)
Common Eider Somateria mollissima
Description:A sea duck (eider).
Life History:
Reproduction Comments: Nests late April-early July (Maine); begins nesting mid- to late June in Beaufort Sea area (Johnson and Herter 1989). Clutch size averages 3-5. Incubation 24-30 days, by female (male departs); female relies on endogenous energy reserves during incubation. Eggs hatch mainly mid- to late July (sometimes into August) in arctic of Alaska and Canada. Young are led to water soon after hatching, tended by female, soon join young of other broods, independent at 60-75 days (fledging reported as occurring at 6-12.5 weeks). Female first breeds at 2-3 years, generally not until at least 3 years old. Rarely renests if clutch is lost, unless loss occurs during laying or early incubation. Nest success 15-70% (Bellrose 1980). In the Atlantic Flyway, duckling survival generally is low, sometimes due to gull predation. Commonly nests in loose aggregations or colonies (usually a few dozen pairs, but up to several thousand pairs in some areas). Intraspecific nest parasitism may be relatively common (Condor 94:871-879).
Ecology Comments:
Predation by herring gull and great black-backed gull causes most nesting failures on islands in Maine, but eider nesting success may be enhanced in nests close to gull colony (gulls defend area against other avian pradators). Arctic fox sometimes an important predator on nesters in Alaska. Ravens, raccoons, and mink sometimes destroy nests. Annual survivorship of adult generally is relatively high, with sport hunting likely the major cause of mortality in the Atlantic flyway (Kehoe 1994).
Habitat:
Marine Habitat(s): Near shore
Estuarine Habitat(s): Bay/sound, Herbaceous wetland, Lagoon, River mouth/tidal river
Palustrine Habitat(s): Riparian
Terrestrial Habitat(s): Tundra
Habitat Comments: NON-BREEDING: rocky seacoasts, bays, estuaries. Rests on rocks, sandbars, ice. In winter in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, concentrated in areas with shallow water reefs and high prey density (Guillemette et al. 1993). BREEDING: Nests on the ground in grass or brush, usually close to salt water, often on island or rocky headland or along shore of pond or lagoon. Nests usually on small island (often less than 5 ha in Maine) or spit. Nests often concealed by plants (forest, shrub, or herbaceous), rocks, logs, driftwood. Often nests in same site in successive years. See Blumton et al. (1988) for habitat suitability index model.
Distribution:
United States:
AK, MA, MD, ME, MI, NC, NH, NJ, NY, RI, SC, SD, VA
NatureServe Status:
Global Status: G5,
Global Status Last Reviewed: 28Nov2000,
Global Status Last Changed: 28Nov2000,
Rounded Global Status: G5 - Secure
Reasons:
Large geographic range, with many well-separated large sub-populations, and legal restrictions in most countries on perceived threats, suggest little immediate threat to species. Apparently declining in western Canadian Arctic.
Other Statuses:
IUCN Red List Category: LC - Least concern
