Baltic/Wadden Sea Common Eider 167 Status of the Baltic/Wadden Sea population of the Common Eider Somateria m. mollissima

• Main Authors: M. Desholm, T. K. Christensen, G. Scheiffarth, M. Hario, Å. Andersson, B. Ens, C. J. Camphuysen, L. Nilsson, C. M. Waltho, S-h. Lorentsen, A. Kuresoo, Baltic/wadden Sea Common Eider
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Common Eider
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.485.8603; http://www.unep-aewa.org/meetings/en/tc_meetings/tc4docs/pdf/eider_somateria.pdf

A dramatic decline in the number of wintering Common Eiders from c. 800,000 to c. 370,000 occurred in Danish waters between 1990 and 2000. Denmark represents the second most important wintering area for Eiders from the Baltic/Wadden Sea flyway, and mid-winter counts sug-gest the total population could have fallen from c.1.2 million individuals in 1991 to c. 760,000 in 2000, implying major (c.36%) ove rall declines. Howeve r, although declines of similar magnitude have been detected in breeding numbers at some sites (eg Saltholm in Denmark), such a dramatic