The silver teal is a small duck with a dark brown cap and a blue-green wing patch. It is recorded at lakes and rivers in Argentina.
Adults have a dark brown cap, pale ochre cheeks and throat, and a bluish bill with a yellow base. The face has two brown lines. The chest is ochre with brown spots, and the flanks, rump, and tail are barred black and white. A blue-green wing patch is edged in white. Young birds have a paler cap and less distinct markings.
At Patagonian steppe lakes, it may form large groups and swim in shallow water. It is sometimes seen with other ducks. It nests in reedbeds and grasslands near water.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.