Northern Pintail
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
Listen to the northern pintail's call.
Answer its cry for help: DONATE TODAY.
This beautiful dabbling duck ranges over more of the earth than any other waterfowl.
Appearance:
The northern pintail is a medium-sized dabbling duck with a slim profile, long narrow neck and pointed tail. Males have a chocolate brown head, white foreneck, blue-grey bill with black stripe and a long "pin" tail. Wings are grey with an iridescent green patch. Females are mottled brown and have blue bills with dark spots or mottling.
Breeding:
Females nest in open areas typically on the ground in low or sparse vegetation and cropland stubble. Northern pintails tend to locate their nests farther from water than other ducks. Hens lay one egg a day for an average clutch size of 7-9 eggs. She incubates the eggs for 22-24 days and leads the young to water within 24 hours of their hatching. Some northern pintails re-nest after their initial nests are destroyed, but few re-nest more than twice. Ducklings feed without assistance and reach flight stage at 46-57 days.
Habitat:
Shallow, fast-warming seasonal or permanent wetlands and prairie.
Range:
Northern pintails breed from Alaska and the Canadian Arctic south to the Prairie Pothole region of southern Canada and the northern Great Plains of the United States. Northern pintails winter along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts from southeast Alaska and southeast Massachusetts, south to Mexico and Central America.
Diet:
Nothern pintails dabble or "tip up" to feed on moist-soil and aquatic plant seeds, pond weeds and aquatic invertebrates. They also feed on grains such as rice, wheat, corn and barley.
< strong>Status and conservation issues:
Pintail numbers have declined dramatically over the last two decades. In 2002 , their popula tion tied the previ ous record low of 1.8 million b
irds. The ultimate caus e of their decline is the loss of g ra ssland habitat. More specifically, reduced nesting success on prairie breeding grounds is suspected to be responsible for low pintail populations. Decreased nest success may be the result of increased nest predation due to changes in landscape composition and changes in land use/cropping practices that have resulted in nest loss to agricultural practices. DUC's Pintail Initiative aims to conserve habitat for these beautiful, but declining birds.
Interesting facts:
The oldest male pintail recorded in the wild is 21 years and four months old. The bird was banded in California and recovered in Idaho.
A pintail skeleton was found at 16,400 feet on the Khumbu Glacier during the 1952 expedition to Mt. Everest.
