ML535888851
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
Voice extracted from video and posted to https://xeno-canto.org/780729. They are called "Steamer-Ducks" because they splash like a paddle steamboat while swimming. This flightless species is endemic to the Falkland Islands. Young drakes such as this, show a bright orange bill. Older males are similar but have a much whiter head while females of all ages have dull greenish olive bills. They resemble Flying Steamer Duck (T. patachonicus) but have a stouter bill and shorter wings. Claims of Flying Steamer-Duck on the Falklands were considered by Fulton et al. (2012) to be misidentifications. They proposed that all the Steamer-Ducks on the Falklands, flying and flightless belong to a single species because the flying birds on the Falklands are “genetically indistinguishable” from the flightless ones. Based on their study, eBird removed Flying Steamer-Duck from the Falkland list. However Fulton's conclusions remain controversial. It is uncertain the birds they sampled included actual Flying Steamer-Ducks and their methodology has been seriously questioned by local authorities. Further research is needed.
Technical information
- Camera
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 66.53 MB