The European eider
"Ow-woo!" Common Eider are so adorable... They are so big and fluffy with their chocolate brown down and so distinctive with that miniature replica of their adult beak that there is no mistaking them. Even as ducklings they emit that wonderful "ooh ooh" noise so characteristic with Eider ducks. Our education department considers them the bee's knees because their eggs and ducklings provide such a wonderful spectacle during Downy Duckling Week. It is lovely to see the children's faces as the intrepid Eider cheeps loudly from inside the egg before wriggling around during pip.
They can cause many an entertaining problem as youngsters, not least the issue of squashing. With their huge feet, they smear poo and food all over themselves, each other, and any other duckling unlucky enough to get in the way. As such I consider Eider to surpass even the Freckled duck in terms of sheer filth!
Small vulnerable ducklings can become completely squashed and smothered, and as such we take extra care to make a separate brooder for them. Due to their pooey nature, we can only ever keep a maximum of 5 eider in one coop, thus seriously depleting our free space. As such, when these fatties hatch out in mid June they can cause absolute mayhem in the duckery! Somehow however their cute status saves the day...
Eider continue to be a little bit tricky into the late rearing stage. We initially rear them dry, but we soon move them out very early into a deep water tank. It is very important to introduce them to water asap so as they do not become fearful or distrustful of it!
Eider can become hydrophobic, and as a result are very susceptible to stress related issues such as feather plucking. Once they have plucked their breasts it is an almost certainty that they will never be comfortable on the water.
You might wonder why we don't rear them wet as a result? Due to their messiness they tend to foul the water and mat too quickly for us to refresh, and bacterial threats can loom in a major way. Because we are aware of these issues we are very careful to nip any signs in the bud and work hard to move the Eider down the rearing process as quickly as possible. As such they are one of the most highly monitored and most regularly moved species, which certainly does nothing to impress us upon their temperaments as friends!
They are so sweet as they flap and scuttle across the b-pond grass on their big webbed feet. Eventually their insatiable hunger takes over, and they will cosy up to anyone for a bit of seaduck...
This year we reared 39 Eider at WWT Slimbridge. Even as adults they are still by far the hungriest, messiest and most demanding of all the birds I look after! 100+ Eider can be viewed in the Slimbridge Barnacle Island exhibit.
