What is "steamer duck"

Steamer \Steam"er\ (-[~e]r), n.

1. A vessel propelled by steam; a steamship or steamboat.

2. A steam fire engine. See under Steam.

3. A road locomotive for use on common roads, as in agricultural operations.

4. A vessel in which articles are subjected to the action of steam, as in washing, in cookery, and in various processes of manufacture.

5. (Zo["o]l.) The steamer duck.

   Steamer duck (Zo["o]l.), a sea duck ( Tachyeres cinereus), native of Patagonia and Terra del Fuego, which swims and dives with great agility, but which, when full grown, is incapable of flight, owing to its very small wings. Called also loggerhead, race horse, and side-wheel duck.

n. A bird of the genus ''Tachyeres'' in the family Anatidae, the family of duck, goose and swan.

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. The genus name Tachyeres, "having fast oars" or "fast rower", comes from Ancient Greek ταχυ- "fast" + ἐρέσσω "I row (as with oars)". The common name "steamer ducks" arose because, when swimming fast, they flap their wings into the water as well as using their feet, creating an effect like a paddle steamer. They can be aggressive and are capable of chasing off predators like petrels.

They are usually placed in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. However, mtDNA sequence analyses of the cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 genes indicate that Tachyeres rather belongs in a distinct clade of aberrant South American dabbling ducks, which also includes the Brazilian, the crested, and the bronze-winged ducks.

There are four species:

• Flying steamer duck (Tachyeres patachonicus)
• Fuegian steamer duck (Tachyeres pteneres)
• Chubut steamer duck (Tachyeres leucocephalus)
• Falkland steamer duck (Tachyeres brachypterus)

The Chubut steamer duck was only described in 1981.