Eider Island

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BBC Radio 4 - Eider Island

An intimate tale of bird-human interdependence.

Acclaimed Danish feature-maker Rikke Houd captures a day, and a centuries old tradition, on Aedey Island.

An intimate tale of bird-human interdependence.

Eider ducks probably nested on Æðey - a small island in the Icelandic Westfjords - long before the first settlers arrived. And when the settlers arrived, the birds continued to nest there.

There is one house on the island and, with spring, an extended family of eider farmers gathers from all over Iceland for an annual ritual. The farmers tend to the eider ducks, offering them protection in exchange for a harvest of precious feathers. Acclaimed Danish feature-maker Rikke Houd captures a day - and a centuries old tradition - on Æðey.

Presented and produced by Rikke Houd
With specially composed music by Sóley Stefánsdóttir
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

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