Eider duck with sleeping bag

The eider duck with sleeping bag ( Somateria mollissima ) plunger Canard marine of the family of the Anatidé S. is a .

Identification

It is a Canard from 50 to 71 cm length with a scale from 80 to 108 cm, heavy between 1.200 and 2.800 G. They are large birds with the massive forms.

The male has a black cap on the head, a nape of the neck and the sides of the green neck olive, white cheeks. The belly, the sides and the tail are black, the back is white and the chest slightly dew. The wings are black and white. Its plumage of eclipse is almost entirely black.

The female brown dark is barred of black. It resembles the female of the Canard mallard, but one can distinguish it by his size much more important.

Surface of distribution

In Europe, he lives in the Northern hemisphere, with the limit of the ice-barrier. It niche on the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean Northern and the the North Sea, the Scandinavia to the Iceland. In France, it migrates mainly on the coasts of the Manche and Brittany. Certain years, one can see it on the the Rhine, the lakes alpine and the Mediterranean.

Habitat

The eider duck with sleeping bag prefers the rock or sandy maritime coasts. In winter, one can meet it on the rivers and the lakes of fresh water.

Behavior

It is a bird which gathers in many troops, from 10 to 1.000 birds.

Contrary to the others Duck S, it alternates the beaten flight and the planed flight.

Food mode

It is an excellent plunger. It plunges more than one minute and can be inserted up to 25 meters. It fishes mainly shellfish and molluscs.

Reproduction

The female lays one brooded per annum from 4 to 6 eggs in May - June. The nest is close to water on the sand or in the rocks, possibly protected by the vegetation. It is made sleeping bag of the female.

The sleeping bag is used for a long time by the people living in the far North. It is collected in the nests after the departure of small. It is used to make warm clothing.

Reference

External bonds

  • Eider duck with sleeping bag in Environment Canada
  • Eider duck with sleeping bag in Fauna and flora of the country

Random links:Año Nuevo | Ultra-violet | Hildegarde de Vintzgau | -821 | Alexandrine Normalizing It of Étiolles | Chronology of the Buffy series against the vampires | Milford,_Iowa