| Steamer ducks | |
|---|---|
| |
| Falkland steamer duck, Tachyeres brachypterus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Anseriformes |
| Family: | Anatidae |
| Subfamily: | Tadorninae |
| Genus: | Tachyeres Owen, 1875 |
| Type species | |
| Anas brachyptera Latham, 1790
| |
| Species | |
|
Tachyeres patachonicus | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The steamer ducks are a genus (Tachyeres) of ducks in the family Anatidae. All of the four species occur at the southern cone of South America in Chile and Argentina, and all except the flying steamer duck are flightless; even this one species capable of flight rarely takes to the air.[2][3][4] They can be aggressive and are capable of chasing off predators like petrels. Bloody battles of steamer ducks with each other over territory disputes are observed in nature. They even kill waterbirds that are several times their size.[5]
- ^ "Part 7- Vertebrates". Collection of genus-group names in a systematic arrangement. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- ^ Livezey, Bradley C.; Humphrey, Philip Strong (1992). Taxonomy and Identification of Steamer-Ducks (Anatidae: Tachyeres). Monograph of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas. No. 8. Lawrence, Kansas: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas. ISBN 0893380423.
- ^ Campagna, Leonardo; McCracken, Kevin G.; Lovette, Irby J. (September 2019). "Gradual evolution towards flightlessness in steamer ducks*". Evolution. 73 (9): 1916–1926. doi:10.1111/evo.13758. ISSN 0014-3820. PMID 31106403.
- ^ Livezey, Bradley (1986). "Flightlessness in steamer-ducks (Anatidae: tachyeres): its morphological bases and probable evolution". Evolution. 40 (3): 540–558. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1986.tb00506.x. PMID 28556327.
- ^ "8 Birds That Can't Fly".