Tachyeres patachonicus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The flying steamer duck (Tachyeres patachonicus), also known as the flying steamer-duck or flying steamerduck, is a species of South American duck in the family Anatidae. The flying steamer duck is one of four steamer ducks, in the genus Tachyeres, which also includes the Fuegian steamer duck (Tachyeres pteneres), the Chubut steamer duck (Tachyeres leucocephalus), and the Falkland steamer duck (Tachyeres brachypterus). The steamer ducks are named for their method of mobility, as the manner in which they use wings and feet to paddle across the water resembles an old-time steam boat. The steamer ducks are members of the Southern Hemisphere shelducks clade Tadorninae. The three flightless species are monophyletic, with the flying steamer ducks splitting off phylogenetically. It is the only steamer duck which can fly, and the only one to occur on inland fresh waters. However, some individual male flying steamer ducks within the species are incapable of flight due to excessive size and wing loadings.
Though they are the smallest of the four Tachyeres species, flying steamer ducks share similar plumage traits with other steamer ducks including...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 4 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 6 | Falkland Islands | 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Green Zoo Wuppertal | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Aquazoo Friesland | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Flying Steamer-Duck sighting in Falkland Islands on a given day, based on 90 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 53rd most-seen of the 79 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Flying Steamer-Duck in Falkland Islands on a given day, against under 5% in February–April, June, August–September and November, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Flying Steamer-Duck sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Flying Steamer-Duck sightings, Falkland Islands ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tierra del Fuego National Park (Argentina, about 40%), Nahuel Huapi National Park (Argentina, about 30%) and Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Flying Steamer-Duck is recorded against all the birds logged in Falkland Islands (90 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
