Common Eider

Taxonomy

Order

Anseriformes

Family

Anatidae

Genus

Somateria

eBird Code

comeid

Subspecies (6)

• Somateria mollissima borealis

  breeds northeastern arctic Canada, Greenland, and Iceland to Franz Josef Land; winters from Iceland and southern Greenland to the Maritime Provinces (Canada)

• Somateria mollissima dresseri

  breeds coastal Labrador to Maine; winters to Long Island, New York

• Somateria mollissima faeroeensis

  resident, Faroe, Shetland, and Orkney islands, and Outer Hebrides (western Scotland)

• Somateria mollissima mollissima

  breeds coasts of northwestern Eurasia; winters to coastal southern France

• Somateria mollissima sedentaria

  resident, coasts and islands of Hudson Bay to James Bay

• Somateria mollissima v-nigrum

  breeds Arctic coasts of northeastern Siberia to Alaska and southern British Columbia; winters to Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands