Common Eider

A pair of Common Eiders, Andrews Point, Rockport, MA; 11/12/2011.

While visiting Halibut Point State Park in Rockport, Massachussets, looking for sea birds that I wouldn't find in the Midwest. One of the first birds I saw was a female Common Eider floating in the the rough waters near the rocky shore.  While I was focussing on this Eider, a Harlequin Duck floated right into my viewfinder (my Christmas Day post).  Later while exploring the Andrews Point, only a few minutes away from Halibut Point SP, a rather large flock of Common Eiders (A pair Above) flew in and landed several yards off the shore line. The female on the left are all brown with a barred wing pattern, gray bill that extends to the crown leaving virtually no forehead. They also have a long lighter eyebrow.  Males (on the right) are black and white with a yellow bill. Their heads and backs are white, with black wings and a black crown.

A fly-by female Common Eider, Halibut Pt SP,MA, 11-12-11

The Eiders stayed quite far out to sea, but the closest one came to me was a female that flew by not far off the shore (Above).

A female Common Eider and a Harlequin Duck enjoy the wave action at Halibut Pt SP,MA, 11-12-11

Wave action at Halibut Point Sate Park, Rockport, MA; 11/12/2011.

Eiders like the rough sea near rocky shorelines similar to the photo (Above).

A male Common Eider, Andrews Point, Rockport, MA; 11/12/2011.

Males (Above) are black and white with a yellow bill. Their heads and backs are white, with black wings and a black crown.

A juvenile male Common Eider, Andrews Point, Rockport, MA; 11/12/2011.

Within the flock that landed at Andrews Point, there were many adult females and males, but also some juvenile males (Above), which look similar to adult males, but their necks and heads are mostly black. During the summer, Common Eiders can be found along the extreme northern shorelines of Canada and Alaska - the Hudson Bay, Baffin Island and the other islands of Nunavut in the Arctic Circle.  For the winter they will migrate a bit south along the north Atlantic seaboard as far south as Virginia, and along the Aleutian Islands and the North pacific Coast of Alaska and Canada. They can be found year round in the North Atlantic along the eastern Provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labrador. In the States they can be found year round along the coast of Maine. As I noticed in the summer of 2008, the first time I saw a Common Eider, they may spend their summer months as far south as Rhode Island (Below).

Female Common Eiders rest on some seaweed covered rocks, Judith Point, Narragansett, Rhode Island; 7/29/2008.