“It’s so funny observing the eider couples when they arrive, looking for a good place to nest. ‘How do you like this spot? Single-family house or apartment complex? Ocean view? Okay, let’s settle here!’” jokes Helgi Þorsteinsson, owner of eiderdowncomforters.com at Ytri-Nýpur in Vopnafjörður, East Iceland. “This is the rowhouse. It has proven very popular.” He indicates homemade eider nest shelters of connected wooden boxes.  

It’s mid-June and Helgi’s eider colony is bursting with life. Eider ducks are busy keeping their eggs and hatchlings warm, and – as soon as their young ones are waterproof – waddling out to sea to teach them how to survive in the wild. “Many of the ducks seem to know me and stay calm as I approach them,” says Helgi, gently stroking one of the mama ducks. The eiders are habitual creatures, usually returning to the same spot for nesting year after year. 

The expansive eider colony of Ytri-Nýpur goes back to 1929, when Helgi’s grandparents moved to the farm. “They noticed a cluster of 12–15 eider nests on an islet,” explains Helgi. They wanted to attract more eider ducks and consulted with an experienced eider farmer from the Breiðafjörður area in West Iceland. “They fenced off the area and created shelters, using natural materials, such as driftwood. Their efforts gradually paid off, and little by little, the colony grew.” Helgi’s parents continued their work, and when he was a teenager, the number of nests had increased to almost 400. Now, there are nearly 3,000 nests in the colony, thanks to the work of three generations for almost 100 years.  

Helgi is now working on expanding the nesting grounds further with new manmade ponds and a maze of driftwood shelters, close to a little hut from where he watches over the eider ducks at night. “I have an eiderdown comforter here, of course, and I sleep very well – sometimes too soundly as I need to keep watch.” Helgi watches out for foxes and other predators. “I think the foxes know when I’m here and stay away.” It takes an effort to attract the wild eider ducks to a new nesting site, and whether Helgi proves successful, remains to be seen. 

In 2013, Helgi exported his first eiderdown duvet. Shortly after, he decided to give up sheep farming and focus on his eiderdown business. He builds shelters for the eiders to nest in, develops new and maintains old nesting sites, watches over the nesting ducks from his hut, collects the down, cleans and washes it, and makes and sells his own duvets and pillows. A licensed tour guide, he also offers tours of the nesting grounds. Tourists are welcome to drop by at Ytri-Nýpur, or book tours on eiderdowncomforters.com.  

“I take people out to the eider colony, walk with them through the nesting area, and tell them about the birds. Afterwards, I serve coffee and light refreshments in the guest room, and then take them through the process, from drying and cleaning the eiderdown to making duvets,” Helgi relates. “I’m sometimes asked how long it takes to make one duvet. When should I start counting? Is it from the day I started making new eider shelters for the season, or from the first night I spent in the hut? It’s very time-consuming.”  

Formerly a sheep farmer, Helgi Þorsteinsson now focuses solely on the eider ducks, running his business, eiderdowncomforters.com, from Ytri-Nýpur in Vopnafjörður, East Iceland. He makes and sells his own duvets and pillows, and also offers tours of the nesting grounds. 

The eider farming tour guide

For Helgi, eider farming is a passion, and he enjoys showing people exactly what goes into his eiderdown comforters. “I love it when people discover how unique they are. There are four tons of eiderdown on the world market each year, 70–80 percent of which comes from Iceland. Nature gives us 4,000 eiderdown duvets per year. That’s it. You’re lucky to be one of the 4,000 who get an eiderdown duvet,” he states. “There are many good duvets, but these are the best. They are light and suitably warm. They are the best that nature can provide,” he stresses with confidence.  

“Eiderdown duvets are a wonderful present for newborns. And is there are more beautiful wedding present? A duvet for the nest?” Helgi asks. Eiderdown from Iceland has a historical significance, he reasons, so much so that he would like it recognized by UNESCO as world heritage. It’s an extremely precious resource, he maintains, “And if I don’t pick the down the eiders leave behind, it will get scattered by the wind.” 