Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Listen to Northern Pintail male from Ducks Unlimited Canada

Watch Northern Pintail dabbling from the Macauley Library

Description

A mallard-sized duck with a slim body and a gray bill.  The male has a distinctive long pointed black tail, gray body, and brown head with a white streak pointing up the side of the neck.  The female is nondescript, tan and slim.

Habitat

During migration, most frequently in large expanses of shallow, open wetland habitats such as the Rainwater Basins where they are abundant.  Occasionally, lakes and reservoirs.  Pintails are less common during the breeding season, found primarily in Sandhills lakes.

Food

Seeds, invertebrates, waste grain.

Behavior

Like other “dabbling” ducks, it obtains its food by tipping up in shallow water.  Engage in “pursuit” flights in which males aerially chase a female.

Status in Nebraska

S5 (breeding and nonbreeding): Secure          NBP Nonbreeding Priority, BCRs 11, 18, and 19

Where to see it in Nebraska

Can be found in appropriate habitat statewide, but especially the Rainwater Basins and Lake McConaughy during spring and fall migration, and Brown and Rock Counties during spring migration.  Sandhills lakes in Cherry, Sheridan, and Garden Counties during breeding season.

Similar looking species

The male Long-tailed Duck (i.e. Oldsquaw), relatively rare in Nebraska, is the only other North American duck with a similarly long tail.  Long-tailed Duck is a “diving” duck found on lakes and reservoirs.

Fun Facts

• Among the first ducks to arrive and depart Nebraska in the spring
• 30% of North America's Northern Pintail population stops in the Rainwater Basin region each spring
• Northern Pintails have the largest breeding range of any duck in North America
• Most of Nebraska's Pintails breed in the Prairie Potholes region and winter along the Texas and Louisiana coasts

Additional Photos of Northern Pintail