Eiderdown

Eiderdown is the incredibly soft, lightweight and warm material under the feathers of the Common Eider. Throughout history it has been used by monarchs, nobility and those fortunate enough to afford such a luxury to keep warm at night. In more modern times it is used by explorers and mountaineers in the harshest of environments. Yet it is a very rare natural resource that requires a unique, mutually beneficial, collaboration between human and duck.

Since the Viking settlement of Iceland, eider have nested in colonies protected by eider farmers who defend the colony from predators such as mink, seagulls, arctic foxes and sea eagles. At first this was in order to collect eggs, but once methods of cleaning eiderdown were developed in the 17th Century, the farmers collected the down that the eiders shed naturally and incorporate into their nests. As eiders often return to the place they were hatched in order to breed, some farmers enlarge the colonies by incubating eggs and rearing eider ducklings who may otherwise not have survived.