Northern Pintail

Anas acuta

Winter, as many know, can be one of the best times not only to see a variety of waterfowl like ducks out in the open- but to also see those ducks in their most brilliant plumage. Wintering waterfowl often have gaudy breeding plumage, which serves to attract prospective mates. Northern Pintail are among these dapper flyers, and can be identified this time of year by their long and pointed tails. These tails are much longer and more prominent on breeding males than on females and nonbreeding males.

Breeding male Northern Pintails stand out with a gleaming

white breast and a white line down their chocolate brown head and neck. In flight, males flash a green speculum (the inner wing feathers or secondaries), and they are considerably larger than the females. Females flash a bronzy speculum and is mottled brown-and-black with a pointed tail. Both sexes have gray legs and a dark gray bill, although the bill of the male is lined with blue on the sides. Males in eclipse plumage are similar to females, but are grayer, with some white remaining on the sides of the neck.

One of the first species to nest in the spring, they are known for nesting as soon as the ice starts to thaw, arriving by late April in places as far north as the Northwest Territories, Canada.

The nest of the pintail is constructed on the ground and hidden amongst vegetation in a dry location, often some distance from water. It is a shallow scrape on the ground lined with plant material and down. The female lays seven to nine cream-colored eggs at the rate of one per day.

You may see these ducks skimming along the surface doing what

they do best, dabbling and upending for food. In fall and winter, Northern Pintails eat seeds and waste grain. In spring and summer, roots and new shoots as well as aquatic invertebrates make up the majority of the diet. As with many other species of duck, the young eat a greater proportion of invertebrates than the adults.

Did You Know? Northern Pintails migrate at night at speeds around 48 miles per hour. The longest nonstop flight recorded for a Northern Pintail was 1,800 miles.

-Samantha Zeiner, FRNWR Administrative Assistant