Eider - status

Somateria mollissima

Winter visitor and passage migrant.

The Eider has a circumpolar Arctic and sub Arctic breeding distribution, extending southwards to northern England and Northern Ireland. They are sedentary and dispersive.

The Eider was first put on record for Pembrokeshire by Mathew (1894) noting an immature male at Dale on the 18th January 1891. He also mentioned that Eiders had been shot at Stackpole and Pembroke but gave no other details. Next noted in 1952, Eiders have been recorded in most years since.