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Common Eider - Atlantic
[Somateria mollissima dresseri]
[Length 24 in. Wingspan 38 in.]
Common Eiders occur in the far north of North America, Europe, and Siberia.
While the males of all four species of Eider ducks have some kind of black-and-white pattern on the body, only the male Common Eider has a black-and-white head pattern.
Females are a drab brown so they "blend in" on the nest while they incubate their eggs.
In North America Common Eiders breed in the high Arctic coastal regions of Canada and Alaska.
They winter along the western coasts of Alaska and Canada and the eastern coasts of Canada and the US south to New Jersey.
These drake "Eastern" Common Eiders were photographed along the coast near Cape Ann, Massachusetts, USA.
Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Ektachrome 200 film pushed to 800.
(Date: February 1987)
(use image name "dukce2" for inquiries)
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