were found in bays or inlets with shallow water protected from strong winds or large waves. The calmer waters allow better conditions for foraging for food and are easier for the chicks to navigate. Chubut steamer ducks are ground nesting birds and prefer nesting areas with at least 1 meter squared of shrub cover. Ground nesting on islands make it easier to protect their young from aerial predators (shrub cover) and from terrestrial predators who can not swim out to the island. Threats Chubut steamer Ducks face many threats such as oil exploration, habitat destruction, predation, and invasive species. Other forms of threats they face are from guano, macroalgae and egg harvesting. There have been three major oil spills in the past 30 years that affected the ducks breeding areas by directly being coated with oil and polluting the substrate that the ducks make their nests on. The three main invasive species affecting the Chubut steamer ducks are Carcinus maenas (Green Crab), Wakame (Asian Kelp or Undaria pinnatifida) and Balanus glandula (Acorn Barnacle). These invasive species indirectly affect the duck by altering the environment that it lives in. Sub-marine predators of this species include the South American sea lion (Otaria byronia) and Killer whale (Orcinus orca). The two species that are commonly observed preying on Chubut Steamer duck eggs are the Kelp gull (Larus dominicanus) and Crested caracara (Caracara plancus). Egg harvesting has only been reported in low numbers and is not as large of a threat as others mentioned. Escape Methods Due to the Chubut Steamer ducks being flightless, they need to have different methods of escaping predators besides flying. To do this they can swim, dive or steam. Steaming is a faster unique way to swim for these flightless birds. When they steam they use their wings as oars and their feet to generate turbulence. They can obtain speeds up to 24 km/hr when steaming. Outlook When the species was first discovered in 1988, even though there was only one population, they were listed as lower risk/least concern due to believing the population was not declining. Over the years the population changed to lower risk/near threatened in 1994, to near threatened in 2004 and finally to vulnerable in 2012 with a decreasing current population trend. The total population is estimated to have 5,300-5,600 individuals with 3,400-3,700 being mature. Around half of their population (46%) is protected by the