98 Ontario Birds August 2014

“Northern” Common Eider(Somateria mollissima borealis):

New to OntarioKevin A. McLaughlin

IntroductionIn late afternoon on 4 December 2013,I was birding at Fifty Point ConservationArea in Winona, Ontario. As I was walk-ing along the west side trail at the lake, Inoticed a small group of Bufflehead(Bucephala albeola) moving away fromthe rocks. In with this group was a femaleplumaged eider which I initially took tobe a King Eider (Somateria spectabilis),although I did not examine it in detail asit was swimming into the light. I walkedto the east end of the point but was trou-bled by something about the eider that

I could not pin down. I returned to thewest side but was not able to locate theeider for several minutes. I eventuallyfound it just off the boulder jetty thatforms the channel leading into the mari-na. After walking over to the edge of thechannel, I saw the eider again, swimmingwith a White-winged Scoter (Melanittafusca) at the channel’s end on the lake. Itwas then that I realized that this was afemale plumaged Common Eider (Som -at eria mollissima). Though viewing atsome distance with my 20 – 60X scope,

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and the view being hampered by roughwater, which only allowed for very briefglimpses, I was able to watch and photo-graph the eider in the fading light as itconstantly dove, at times resurfacing witha bill full of mussels. Many obser verswere able to see and photograph the eiderthe next day and through until aboutmid-December. Extensive field study andexcellent photographs of this bird leaveno doubt that this represents the firstdocumented occurrence of the “North-ern” Common Eider (Somateria mol lis -sima borealis) subspecies in Ont ario. Thepurpose of this paper is to document thisoccurrence.

DescriptionThis was compiled from prolonged fieldstudies of the bird and aided by manyphotographs supplied by various indi-viduals.

Size and shape: This was a large, heavi-ly built sea duck, similar in size to theWhite-winged Scoter it was associatingwith on 4 December. The head and bill

were particularly large, befitting a mem-ber of the eider family. A photo wasobtained several days later showing theeider with a White-winged Scoter (Fig-ure 1). The apparent smaller size of theeider relative to the scoter may have beenan artifact of the photograph, but mayalso have been due to the scoter being amale in its first calendar year, showingthe female eider to be somewhat smallerby comparison. I aged and sexed the scot-er on the basis of the clear white headspots, enlarged bill base and seeminglyimpressive body size.

Figure 1. First basic female “Northern” CommonEider (S. m. borealis) with an apparent first basicmale White-winged Scoter at Fifty Point ConservationArea, Hamilton-Wentworth/Niagara on 8 December2013. Note the smaller size of the eider relative tothe scoter, which may have been in part an artifactof the photograph but may have also been due tothe actual larger size of the male scoter. Photo: David D. Beadle.

Plumage:The eider was in female plum -age. Although the plumage tone variedin different photographs, in life it gaveme the impression of a dark grayishbrown. However, after looking at numer-ous photographs, I was confounded as tohow to accurately describe the basicplumage colour. The scapulars had darkcentres with narrow white and chestnuttips. The feathering at the sides of thebreast/belly had dark centres with nar-row off-white or pale brown bars and thiswas mixed with plain gray feathering.

Short dark/light horizontal barring wasevident on the fore breast, mixed withdark spots. This spotted effect continuedon the lower breast and belly, notedwhen the duck raised itself up from thewater, and was also seen on the rearflanks. The dark greater secondary cov -erts and most of the secondaries hadthin, dull whitish edging, more promi-nent on the greater coverts. The dark-centred median and lesser secondarycoverts had chestnut fringes (Figure 2).

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Figure 2. First basic female “Northern” Common Eider (S. m. borealis) at Fifty Point Conservation Area,Hamilton-Wentworth/Niagara on 8 December 2013. Note the dark-centred scapulars with chestnut/whitefringes, slightly paler centred lesser and median secondary coverts with chestnut fringes. Also seen here arethe minimally pale tipped greater secondary coverts and secondaries, along with the relatively short tertials. Photo: David D. Beadle.

Head and bill: The head was fairly uni-form in colour, a hard to define grayishbrown. The mildly sloping forehead wasclearly separated from the top edge of thebill, and these, in combination, impart-ed a lengthy gestalt. The crown was dark-er and contrasted with a whitish eyebrowwhich began in the lores and continuedover the dark eye, broadening as itreached the back of the head. The paleeyebrow was mixed with thin darkstreaking and it seemed to include avague pale crescent above the eye itself.The bill was thick and long, lacking anytrace of concavity, and was largely lead

gray in colour. The swollen tip, includingthe nail, was a creamy pale colour whichcontrasted with the rest of the bill, par-ticularly in front-on views. The dorsalportion of the upper mandible narrowedas it approached the base, ending in twothin, short, pointed frontal lobes. Theupper edge of the lateral bill feathering,which extended forward from betweenthe lower edge of the frontal lobes and thelateral lobe of the bill, came to a slightlyrounded point below the basal part of thenostrils. A narrowing strip of bill belowthe lateral feathering extended back tothe gape (Figure 3).

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Figure 3. First basic female “Northern” Common Eider (S. m. borealis) at Fifty Point Conservation Area,Hamilton-Wentworth/Niagara on 8 December 2013. Evident in this photograph are the broad, streaked eye-brow, the narrow, sharply pointed, relatively short frontal bill lobes and the relationship of the distal feather-ing on the bill side versus the basal portion of the nostril, where the feathering extends right adjacent to thebasal portion of the nostril (unlike a female King Eider, where this feathering falls well short of extending tothe base of the nostril). Note the gray bill colour with a paler tip and the lack of concavity to the bill. Alsoshown is the effect of forehead and bill not forming a straight lined single unit at the confluence of the billand forehead as in the other Canadian subspecies of Common Eider. Photo: David D. Beadle

Underwings: Best determined fromphotographs, were pale gray except forthe axillars, under medians and a fewinner under greater secondary coverts,which were white in contrast (Figure 4).

Age determination: Several factors ledme to a conclusion that this eider was inits first calendar year, best termed afemale in first basic plumage (Humphreyand Parkes 1959). The most compellingof these factors was the lack of heavy darkbarring along the side of the body, on the

fore breast and the underparts. Instead,these areas were composed of a profusionof dark spots and many short, pale-tipped dark bars. In all of the photo-graphs that I examined of older femalesat different times of the year, the inten-sity of dark/light body barring on thoseindividuals was prominent, to say theleast. On the present eider, there wasonly a faint white edge running along thetips of the greater secondary coverts andthe tips of some secondaries (Figure 2). I noted that adult females consistently

102 Ontario Birds August 2014

Figure 4. First basic female “Northern” Common Eider (S. m. borealis) at Fifty Point Conservation Area,Hamilton-Wentworth/Niagara on 5 December 2013. Note the white axillars, along with white on the medianand several greater under secondary coverts. Also evident are the densely spotted underparts. Photo: Mike Veltri

showed more or less obvious white wingbars on these tracts. Another factor wasthe pattern on the side of the head,specifically the broadening whitish eye-brow which started in the lores andextended to the back of the head, offsetby the darker crown (Figures 2 and 3).By and large, I found that adult femalesonly showed a small buffy crescent adja-cent to the top of the eye. Some showeda short, poorly defined eyebrow, but inno photograph did I find an adult femalewith an eyebrow resembling the FiftyPoint bird. Photographs demonstratedthat adult females possess a rather uni-formly patterned head with little con-trast between the side of the head andthe crown. The last age determinative

character involved the structure of thetail feathers. The visible rectrices in thephotograph of the diving bird wereretained juvenal feathers, showing anotched appearance that was most likeFigure 3 in Pittaway and Lorimer(2001). They were broad basally andtapered slightly to the tip which had twopoints on either side of the central shaft.There were no apparent replaced, point-ed, adult-type rectrices on the spread tail(Figure 5). This, along with the completelack of recently acquired strong bodybarring, supported the eider being infirst basic plumage rather than it havingundergone any discernible amount offirst prealternate molt.

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Figure 5. First basic female “Northern” Common Eider (S. m. borealis) at Fifty Point Conservation Area,Hamilton-Wentworth/Niagara on 8 December 2013. In this unusual photograph, note the spread tail ofthe diving eider showing retained juvenal rectrices. Each feather has two points on either side of thecentral shaft. Photo: David D. Beadle

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Figure 6. Definitive basic female “Pacific” Common Eider (S. m. v-nigrum) at a nest on Jenny Lind Island,Nunavut, on 1 July 1998. The massive head, with an essentially straight line combination of forehead andbill, is evident. Note especially the broad extension of feathering over the bill, which terminates in a distallyrounded point. Also showing, and characteristic of this subspecies, is the very narrow amount of bill surfacevisible below the lower edge of the lateral bill feathering. Photo: Glenn Coady

Canadian subspecies of Common EiderOf the seven subspecies of CommonEider found across the Holarctic region,four occur in Canada, as follows:

S. m. dresseri. (Atlantic Eider). Othernames for this subspecies include Amer-ican Eider, Canadian Eider and South-ern Eider. It breeds from Groswater Bay,on the south-central Labrador coast(where it intergrades with borealis) southto Massachusetts (Goudie et al. 2000).In winter, dresseri is found along theAtlantic coast and is casual as far south

as Florida (Goudie et al. 2000). The vastmajority of previous records of CommonEider from southern Ontario pertain tothis subspecies.

S. m. sedentaria. (Hudson Bay Eider).Breeds and overwinters on open waterswithin Hudson Bay and James Bay(Gilchrist and Robinson 2000). A feware found in the vicinity of south BaffinIsland and on the Labrador coast. Thissubspecies is very scarce outside of thisregion, although a specimen exists fromNebraska (Mlodinow 1999). Three

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individuals were seen, with one first win-ter male collected, at Navy Island,Ontario on the Niagara River, south ofNiagara Falls on 21 November 1936(Palmer 1976, Goudie et al. 2000). Ascant few other individuals in southernOntario have been considered to be thissubspecies (Glenn Coady, pers. comm.).

S.m. v-nigrum. (Pacific Eider). This sub -species breeds from Coronation Gulf,Nunavut (east to Jenny Lind Island), westalong the coast of the Beaufort Sea andBering Sea, Alaska (Kodiak, Cook Inlet,Glacier Bay) and the Aleutian Islands. Italso breeds in eastern Asia, including St.Lawrence and Commander islands andthe Kamchatka Peninsula (Goudie et al.2000). It winters on ice-free watersaround the Bering Sea (Goudie et al.2000). It has occurred east to Newfound -land, with a relatively recent record atCape Spear in 1995 (Mactavish 2014).There are also several records for Mani-toba. The first record for the WesternPalearctic recently occurred in Norway(Amundsen and Garner 2014). V-nigrumnow remains the only Canadian sub-species that has yet to occur in Ontario.

S. m. borealis. (Northern Eider). Breedsfrom Groswater Bay, south-central Lab -rador and possibly as far south as north-ern Newfoundland, north around Unga-va Peninsula, along Hudson Strait, westto at least Southampton Island and northto Ellesmere Island. It also breeds in westand northwest Greenland. Some arcticCanadian breeding borealis winter insouthwest Greenland and southernLabrador (Goudie et al. 2000). Popula-tions of dresseri and borealis winter

together in the Gulf of St. Lawrence(Mendall 1986). It has strayed inland toSaskatchewan (Last Mountain Lake,Riceton), as well as to Alaska (Point Bar-row) and Great Britain. This is the small-est of the four Canadian subspecies.(Goudie et al. 2000).

Subspecies discussionMy experience has been that the colourof body plumage is not particularly use-ful in the determination of subspecies inthe female Common Eider. Moreover, asdetailed above, I consider this eider to bea young of the year and I have not foundanything to support a typical colour forthat age class. Using size as a yardstick istenuous at best, as there was nothing tocompare this duck with other than to anearby White-winged Scoter (Figure 1).The most useful feature for subspeciesdelineation involves aspects of the headand bill. I have found through photo-graphic research that borealis differs fromthe other three Canadian subspecies viathe impression given by the combinationof relative bill and forehead angle, alongwith the resulting head shape. In borealis,the forehead is quite clearly discrete fromthe top of the bill, that is to say, two sep-arately visible units, forehead and bill, arereadily discernible and positioned in anobtuse angle in relation to one another(Figure 3). This contributes to a decid-edly round-headed gestalt that is presentin this subspecies. The other three sub-species have more of a straight line con-fluence of the bill and forehead, impart-ing a wedge-shaped effect to the head,with v-nigrum perhaps being the mostobvious in this respect.

The extent and shape of the frontallobes at the base of the bill is another crit-ical separating feature (Mendall 1986,Knapton 1997). These lobes have alsobeen referred to as “processes”. My ownterm in the past, especially, for example,when comparing the two species ofscaup, has been “bill pointers”. From allof the diagrammatic and photographicreferences that I have consulted, the clos-est and perhaps easiest fit for the FiftyPoint eider, in utilizing frontal lobe struc-ture, is female borealis. The frontal lobeson the Fifty Point eider were short anddecidedly pointed at the base (Figure 3).The other subspecies that comes closestin this respect is v-nigrum, as it shares theacutely pointed frontal lobe bases withborealis. A photo was supplied to meshowing a pale-plumaged definitive basicfemale v-nigrum on a nest in the Cana-dian Arctic (Figure 6). Several com-pelling features involving the head andbill are evident in this photo. The headappears strikingly massive. Augmentingthis, there is a profound impression of astraight linear merging of the confluenceof the bill and forehead. The lateral billfeathering is distinctive and does not cre-ate a look akin to that of the other sub-species, but rather recalls more a femaleSpectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri) inthat respect, due to the broad forward

extension of the feathering. The feather-ing extends down from the base andnearly abuts the back end of the nostril,continuing down in a broad roundedpoint, covering much of the bill surfacebelow and behind the basal part of thenostril. Although the angle of the photo-graph precludes full assessment of thefrontal lobe structure, a very narrow,basally pointed effect is suggested.

A definitive basic female CommonEider (sedentaria) photographed inChur c hill, Manitoba in June (Figure 7),shows two age related characters: heavybarring along the sides, as well as a pair ofconspicuous white wing bars, these onthe tips of the greater secondary covertsand secondaries. More important are thesubspecific supportive features involvingthe head and bill. The appearance of thelateral bill feathering and position withrespect to the nostril is very similar, if notidentical to that of the Fifty Point bore-alis. The distal part of the feathering isessentially pointed and terminates belowthe rear portion of the nostril. There isalso a moderate amount of bill visiblebelow the bottom line of lateral feather-ing, comparable to borealis and dresseribut markedly different when contrastedwith v-nigrum. The bill itself is long andthe frontal lobes are broad and end rela-tively close to the eye in a rounded

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Figure 7. Definitive basic female “Hudson Bay” Common Eider (S. m. sedentaria), at Churchill, Manitoba on15 June 2011. For age, note the heavy barring on the sides and fore breast, along with the conspicuous whitewing bars, with the bar on the greater secondary coverts broader than the secondary bar.Subspecies identification is aided by the long, moderately broad frontal bill lobes which end in a rounded

base, along with the unison of bill and forehead in an essentially straight line. Separation from the similardresseri is enhanced by the non-migratory habits of sedentaria, with birds of that subspecies, including thisindividual, being confined in winter to the open waters of Hudson Bay and James Bay.

Photo: David Hemmings

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terminus. As in v-nig rum, the straight-edged top surface of the bill essentiallymelds in a linear confluence with theforehead to form one unit.

A first alternate female dresseri spentthe winter of 2000-2001 along thelakeshore off Hamilton and Burlington(Figure 8). I aged this richly-colouredbird as first alternate on the basis of thebroad, fresh chestnut fringes to the darkbrown mantle and scapular feathers andthe strong vertical dark brown/rich buffbarring on the body sides. The lack ofbarring on the fore breast and theabsence of white wing bars were separat-ing characters from a definitive alternatefemale. The distal bill feath ering versusnostril position was quite similar to both

borealis and sedentaria. The frontal lobemake-up was most similar to the non-migratory sedentaria. My own researchhas shown that female dresseri has some-what broader frontal lobes through outwhen compared to sedentaria. As withthe previous two described sub species,the top edge of the bill formed an essen-tially straight line in combination withthe forehead.

When seen in life or in photographs,particularly in side view, charactersinvolving the head can be difficult tojudge on any female Common Eiderencountered. One needs to obtain opti-mum views and carefully examine at allangles, the makeup of relative fore-head/bill angle, frontal lobe structure

108 Ontario Birds August 2014

Figure 8. First alternate female “Atlantic” Common Eider (S. m. dresseri), Burlington, Ontario on 17 January2001. The lack of obvious dark barring on the foreparts and the absence of white wing bars assist in ageingthis female as first alternate. Note the distal bill side feathering/nostril position, similar to that of bothsedentaria and borealis. The frontal lobes are somewhat broader than in sedentaria, with both subspeciespossessing a rounded base to the lobes. Also evident in this photo is the blending of bill top and foreheadto form an essentially straight edged line. Photo: Kayo Roy

and lateral bill feathering/nostril positionof any female plumaged individual, inorder to correctly ascertain the subspec -ific identification of any particular v-nigrum, borealis, sedentaria or dresseriCommon Eider. The often close rangeviews, supplemented by a suite of excel-lent photographs of the Fifty Point eiderover a span of nearly two weeks, permit-ted a confident and consistent identifi-cation of the so called ‘Northern Eider’.

After I first reported this bird on 4December, I was contacted by JamesTurland of Kincardine on 5 December,asking me to help him identify a femaleeider that he and his group had seen offFifty Point Conservation Area on 2December. Four photos were taken byCarole Lupton on that day. The photosclearly showed the bird to be a femaleplumaged Common Eider, most cer-tainly the same one present from 4December on. I promptly advised Jamesas to the identity. James subsequentlysent me his report, along with the pho-tos, which I forwarded to the OntarioBird Records Committee.

I was able to confidently identify thisduck as a female plumaged CommonEider in fairly mediocre light in lateafternoon on 4 December. This wasdone with the eider in rough water anddiving frequently at a moderate distanceof several hundred feet. The distinctivestruc ture, particularly involving the headand bill, was quite evident.

The next morning I saw the eider justoff the rocks of Fifty Point at much clos-er range. I became concerned about onefeature on the bird that had me thinkingabout a possible hybrid eider. Thisinvolved the critical issue of the forwardextension of feathering on the side of thebill with respect to the position of thenostril. It appeared that, in some lightingconditions, the pale feathering on thebill sides ended in a rounded terminusshort of the base of the nostril (Figure 9).

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Figure 9. First basic female “Northern” CommonEider (S. m. borealis) at Fifty Point ConservationArea, Hamilton-Wentworth/Niagara on 8 December2013. Note how the lateral bill feathering darkensdistally and appears to end short of the nostril. This artifact was apparent in certain lighting condi-tions and in other photographs. Upon closer examination, the correct forward feather extensioncan be made out, ending below the rear portion ofthe nostril. Also evident in this photograph, is thesubspecific determinative contrast of the roundedhead, including a slightly angled forehead, and the straight-lined upper bill, with a very easily discernible obtuse angle formed between the two.Photo: Barry Cherriere.

This character would be more appro-priate for King Eider, and arguably fora hybrid involving the two species. SuchCommon Eider x King Eider hybridshave been described (Pet tin gill 1959,Palmer 1976, Trefry et al. 2009). How-ever, all other features looked to be cor-rect for Common Eider. I voiced myconcerns to several other observers pres-ent and also posted to the ONTBIRDSlistserv about this a short time later.

Within a couple of hours, I receivedfour photos from Garth Riley, who hadbeen present earlier in the day. His closerange photographs showed the relativepositions of the feathering and nostrilquite well. These photographs revealedthat the distal point of the bill sidefeathering was slightly darker than theremainder, at least with the eider in cer-tain lighting and relative head positions.This had then created an artifact, mak-ing it appear to me in life that the dark-er tip of the feathering was actually partof the bill, being somewhat similar incolour to it. Garth’s photos and those ofothers taken at close range, showed thedarker distal bill feathering going for-ward, ending in a point below the basal20 to 30 percent of the nostril. Thus, adiagnostic character was indeed presentwhich eliminated a putative hybrideider, along with a female plumagedKing Eider. I quickly reposted to ONT-BIRDS to clear up any confusion.

Jean Iron photographed this eider atclose range on 6 December. She andRon Pittaway were the first observers torecognize this bird as belonging to thesubspecies borealis. Of greater impor-tance was that through careful researchthey were also able to confidently statethat this eider represented the firstknown record of borealis for theprovince of Ontario.

This record was accepted by theOntario Bird Records Committee as thefirst occurrence of a borealis CommonEider for Ontario. It was accepted asoccurring from 2-13 December 2013 atFifty Point Conservation Area, Hamil-ton/ Niagara (Holden 2014).

AcknowledgmentsI would like to thank the following forproviding photographs, either thosewhich were used in this article or whichwere utilized for reference purposes.They were David D. Beadle, BarryCherriere, Glenn Coady, Willie D’An-na, David Hem mings, Frank and SandraHorvath, Jean Iron, Mourad Jabra,Claude King, Tim King, Carole Lupton,Ron Pittaway, Rich Poort, Joanne Red-wood, Garth Riley, Kayo Roy, DeclanTroy, James Tur land, Josh Vandermeulenand Mike Veltri. Special thanks to GlennCoady for forwarding several valuablereferences, obtaining photographs andfor his unfailing support and exchangeof ideas.

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Literature CitedAmundsen, T. and M. Garner. 2014. Magnificent eider in magnificent Varanger.Birding Frontiers blog – 19 February 2014.http://birdingfrontiers.com/2014/02/19/pacific-eider-in-norway-a-new-western-palearctic-bird/ Accessed 5 July 2014.

Gilchrist, H. G. and G. J. Robertson. 2000.Observations of marine birds and mammalswintering at polynyas and ice edges in theBelcher Islands, Nunavut, Canada. Arctic53:61-68.

Goudie, R.I., J.R. Gregory and A. Reed.2000. Common Eider (Somateria mollissima),The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab ofOrnithology; Retrieved from The Birds ofNorth America Online: http://bna.birds.cor-nell.edu/bna/species/546doi:10.2173/bna.546 Accessed 5 July 2014.

Holden, B.R. 2014. Ontario Bird RecordsCommittee Report for 2013. Ontario Birds32:54-81.

Humphrey, P.S. and K.C. Parkes. 1959. Anapproach to the study of molts and plumages.Auk 76:1-31.

Knapton, R.W. 1997. Identification offemale Common Eider subspecies in Canada.Birders Journal 6:134-136.

Mactavish, B. 2014. Pacific Eider at CapeSpear in March 2005. The Bruce MactavishNewfoundland Birding Blog. 5 February2014. http://brucemactavish1.blogspot.ca/2014_02_01_archive.html Accessed 5July 2014.

Mendall, H. L. 1986. Identification of east-ern races of the eider. Pages 82-88 in Eiderducks in Canada. (Reed, A., Ed.) CanadianWildlife Service Report Series, no. 47,Ottawa, Ontario.

Mlodinow, S. 1999. Common and Kingeiders: vagrancy patterns in western NorthAmerica. Birders Journal 8:234-242.

Palmer, R. S. (ed.) 1976. Handbook ofNorth American Birds, Volume 3, Waterfowl(Part 2). Yale University Press, New Haven,Connecticut.

Pettingill, O.S. 1959. King Eiders matedwith Common Eiders in Iceland. WilsonBulletin 71:205-207.

Pittaway, R. and P. Lorimer. 2001. AgeDuck Tails. OFO News 19(3):1

Trefry, S. A., D. L. Dickson and A.K.Hoover. 2009. A Common Eider x KingEider hybrid captured on the Kent Peninsula,Nunavut. Arctic 60(3):251-254.

Kevin A. McLaughlin30 Bingham RoadHamilton, ON. L8H 1N4kevinmclaughlin05@gmail.com

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