The common eider is a sea duck that nests in colonies on islands along the North American coast from Maine to Labrador, and in the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence in Québec.
Eiderdown feathers cling to each other thanks to microscopic hooks on the barbs, the basic element of a down feather. The tangle of barbs, made up of barbules, traps air and give down its insulating power. These exceptional characteristics of eiderdown have been used for hundreds of years to make bed duvets.
