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Northern Pintail
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Species
description provided by eNature
Description
Male, 25-29" (64-74 cm); female, 21-23" (53-58 cm). Long-necked
slender duck. Male has brown head, white underparts and neck with
white line extending onto side of head, grayish back and sides,
and long, black, pointed central tail feathers. Speculum metallic
brown and green with white rear border that shows in flight. Feet
gray. Female mottled brown, similar to female mallard, but paler,
grayer, and more slender, with brown speculum bordered with white
at rear edge only; tail is more pointed than in female mallard.
Voice
Distinctive 2-tone whistle; females quack.
Habitat
Marshes, prairie ponds, and tundra; sometimes salt marshes in winter.
Nesting
6-9 pale greenish-buff eggs in a shallow bowl of grass lined with
down, often some distance from water.
Range
Breeds from Alaska and Labrador south to California, Nebraska, and
Maine. Locally in East and occasionally elsewhere. Winters south
to Central America and West Indies. Also in Eurasia.
Discussion
Although not as numerous as the mallard, this graceful game bird
is still a widespread and common duck, especially in the West, where
about half of North America's six million are found. Winter flocks
can be very large, numbering in the thousands. Seeds of aquatic
plants are the pintail's main food, but in winter it also eats small
aquatic animals; when freshwater habitats freeze over, it resorts
to tidal flats, where it feeds on snails and small crabs. Male northern
pintails are aggressive, often forcing their attentions on females
of other species.
