Birds Wiki
Advertisement
Birds Wiki
Eiders
{{{image_alt}}}
Common Eider
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Somateria
Leach, 1819
Species
  • S. mollissima
  • S. fischeri
  • S. spectabilis

Eiders are large seaducks in the genus Somateria. Steller's Eider, despite its name, is in a different genus.

The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern hemisphere.

Species[]

  • Common Eider Somateria mollissima
  • Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri
  • King Eider Somateria spectabilis

Two undescribed species are known from fossils, one from Middle Oligocene rocks in Kazakhstan and another from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, USA. The former may not actually belong into this genus.

Advertisement