A strange duck!

Three female eider (Somateria mollissima) ducks and a small brood of young.

The very pale bird is most unusual and has a form of a genetic abnormality known as dilution where the plumage colours  appear ‘washed out’. In birds  suffering from dilution, the feathers are produced by melanin cells which produce much less pigment than normal.

The photograph also displays another feature of eider duck biology. The small brood of young is being cared for by its mother and by two so-called aunts. Aunts are females who have failed to breed or who have lost their own ducklings. Sometimes many broods combine to form a large crèche containing scores  of ducklings in the care of many adult females who help protect them from predatory gulls.