Northern Pintail

Description: Pintails are a slender, sleek duck that have longer, more narrow wings that enable them to fly quickly. Pintails get their name due to the long, slender tail feathers that make up to a quarter of the body length of the males. Male northern pintails have a dark brown head and a white stripe running down the side of their necks to their white stomachs. The back is darker colored, usually dark gray, and the back side has a white area on each side. The two central tail feathers that are long are black and the rest of the tail is gray or white. The speculum is iridescent green to dark green. The bill is blueish gray with a black stripe down the center and the legs and feet are dulled gray. The female northern pintail has a dark brown body and a gray head. The speculum is bronze to copper in color while the bill is blueish gray with dark spots and the legs and feet are like the male, dulled gray.

Breeding: Northern pintails usually breed in colder states or Canadian provinces. They can be found from Alaska across central Canada, and over to Greenland. In the US they can be found breeding in western and central US states. They prefer open areas that are near wetland habitat in prairie states. The female will usually build a nest on the ground in low lying grass or reeds where she’ll lay about 8 eggs.

Migrating and Wintering: Northern pintails are some of the first ducks to migrate for the winter, and some of the first to migrate back in the spring months. Over half of the pintails living in North America will pass through California. Most of those birds will spend their winter in the Central Valley of California though some will keep moving down to Mexico. Pintails also use the Central Flyway to winter in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, and other Gulf Coast states. They will nest in estuaries where they can find plenty of food for the winter.

Population: Pintails used to be one of the most popular duck species in North America but have seen troubling numbers since the 1950s. The North American pintail has seen numbers suffering because of the loss of grassland and marshland habitat throughout the prairie states in the US and also the provinces in Canada.

Food habits: Pintails will eat seeds, nuts, vegetation, and various aquatic invertebrates and crustaceans.

Popularity: 2%