TIMES RECORD • June 16, 2022
Common Eiders are the largest of the sea ducks on the Maine coast. Each breeding pair lays just one brood each season, typically containing four or five olive-grey eggs. The pair build a nest on the ground that is protected and close to water. Then, they line it with plants and the snuggly eider down that humans prize as insulation for comforters and jackets. Eiders were once hunted nearly to extinction for their down, but now it is illegal to hunt them and, instead, their down is collected without harming the eiders from eider farms that are primarily in Iceland. After three weeks or so, the eggs hatch and the chicks leave their snuggly nests, going straight into the water. It is during this very early period when the ducklings are the most vulnerable – not just to predation, but also to hypothermia. ~ Susan Olcott