Common Eider

Somateria mollissima

The common eider, also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large 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). Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 9,039 times across 47 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 16°C (typically 8 to 19°C, from 8 areas). That range is wide, so temperature alone does not explain when it turns up.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 57°N in August to 72°N in May, about 1,600 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.