Common Eider in St. Louis County
2014-11-10

'Accidental' in Minnesota - Five or fewer records in St. Louis County for the Fall season

This photo shows one of the two Common Eiders found yesterday in flight as it took off from Brighton Beach in a snowstorm and headed toward downtown Duluth. In the last two days these two birds have been very cooperative and seen by many birders between Brighton Beach and Leif Erickson Park in Duluth. What a thrill to find this holy grail of ducks in Minnesota! And just when I was bemoaning the lack of ducks on Lake Superior! (Indeed, in four hours of watching the eiders in Duluth yesterday from Brighton Beach to Leif Erickson Park, I never saw a single other duck of any species!). Common Eiders are generally rather easily separated from King Eiders on shape alone, even in flight. Note the longer neck, much longer bill, and especially the angular bump on the forehead. The heavily barred flanks are also visible in the original photo. The only previous accepted records are of a female/immature seen at Grand Marais on 7 November 1953 (The Loon 25:141-142), two shot at Lake of the Woods on 25 October 1959 and one shot (from seven similar birds) in Itasca County on 7 November 1959 (The Auk 78:260-261), and two males (!) shot from four similar birds in Pope County on 5 November 1966 (The Loon 39:26). But also note that an immature male seen at Stoney Point, St. Louis County on 27 December 1978 was published as a Common Eider in The Loon (51:144) but later found unacceptable by MOURC. The 1959 specimens were identified as Somateria mollissima v-nigra, the west arctic subspecies, which is also the most distinctive subspecies. I believe the Duluth eiders were also S. m. v-nigra based on the pointed bill lobes, the rounded loral feathering, and the very long bill dimensions (longest distance from eye to nostril of all the subspecies), but welcome any informed input.

Karl J. Bardon