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.

[3] However, some individual male flying steamer ducks within the species are incapable of flight due to excessive size and wing loadings.

[3] Though they are the smallest of the four Tachyeres species, flying steamer ducks share similar plumage traits with other steamer ducks including brown head and neck feathers with white stripes stretching from their eyes to the napes of their necks, and brown-gray gradient body feathers.

[4] Flying steamer ducks are also sexually dimorphic to the extent that males are heavier but have smaller cranial elements and wingspans than females.

[6] The wear and degradation on the primary and secondary feathers of observed flying steamer ducks varies depending on the location and flight behavior of the individuals.

[6] Flying steamer ducks inhabit aquatic areas at the southern tip of South America, specifically Chile and Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, and the Falkland Islands.

[10] Flying steamer ducks have almost exclusively been observed to forage in pairs, preferring to dive either around deep-water kelp beds or around shallow water zones.