Flightless Steamer Ducks
Steamer ducks are difficult to identify to species. There are flightless ones and flying ones, and the differences are subtle. In addition, an ornithologist on our ship said that some flightless ones can fly, which suggests interbreeding. I never saw any of them steaming through the water, which is the basis for their name. These two Flightless Steamer Ducks were at Tierra del Fuego National Park. When we arrived at Saunders Island, I saw a pair of the endemic Falkland Streamer Ducks, who are flightless. Our zodiac driver took us into a cove near where we disembarked, and a pair was swimming near the shore. This is a species that can be seen only in the Falkland Islands, and most of the birders in other zodiacs did not see them.
Flightless Steamer Ducks
Steamer ducks are difficult to identify to species. There are flightless ones and flying ones, and the differences are subtle. In addition, an ornithologist on our ship said that some flightless ones can fly, which suggests interbreeding. I never saw any of them steaming through the water, which is the basis for their name. These two Flightless Steamer Ducks were at Tierra del Fuego National Park. When we arrived at Saunders Island, I saw a pair of the endemic Falkland Streamer Ducks, who are flightless. Our zodiac driver took us into a cove near where we disembarked, and a pair was swimming near the shore. This is a species that can be seen only in the Falkland Islands, and most of the birders in other zodiacs did not see them.