This month let’s learn about a duck species that is often found in the Sacramento area called the Northern Pintail (Anus acuta). Northern Pintails are widespread and found across North America, Europe, and Asia. They are in a group of ducks called dabbling ducks which prefer to be in shallow water where marsh plants grow. Dabbling ducks seldom dive; but rather will search for food near the water’s surface. Although Northern Pintails are abundant over many regions throughout the world, their numbers have steadily declined for decades due to habitat loss or change. Their wetland and prairie habitats are continually being converted and fragmented. In addition, some experts say that a series of drought years on the northern plains may drastically reduce nesting success there.

Most Northern Pintail populations are migratory birds (relocating depending on the season) and are one of the first duck species to migrate every spring and fall. They time their spring migration well and arrive in their northern nesting range as soon as the ice melts. Large flocks of Northern Pintails migrate at night and can fly great distances at speeds up to 65 miles per hour due to their slender bodies and their 3-foot wingspan. They nest in the northern-central parts of the United States, Canada, Greenland, in northern Europe, the Middle East, India, and Asia. 

Northern Pintails usually spend their winters south of their nesting range where it is warmer and food is more plentiful, usually in the southern United States or Mexico. They arrive in the Sacramento Valley after their nesting season is over and are quite common here from October through mid-March. Occasionally Northern Pintails are seen in our valley in other months as well. In the winter they gather in large flocks; but are accepting of other waterfowl and are often seen among several different bird species. They are comfortable either when waddling on land or swimming in water but can quickly take flight and maneuver through the air with great skill. When at great heights, they will use a zig-zag flight pattern when descending to look for food on land.

What do Northern Pintails look like?

When both on water and in flight, Northern Pintails are often described as elegant or handsome. Males have very long central pin-like tail feathers (which become even longer in the nesting season). This is why the species got its name. Northern Pintails are sometimes referred to as sprigs or sprig-tails because hunters said their tails resemble plant stems. 

Northern Pintails have smallish heads, slim bodies, long and slender necks, and long narrow wings. Their slim bodies and long necks are a way to separate them from other duck species. During the nesting season, males look very different from females. Adult males have eye-catching white neck stripes, white chests, chocolate brown heads and throats, gray sides and backs that are finely speckled with black, white rump patches, blue-gray bills which have a central black stripe running to the tip, slate-gray legs and feet, and long black tails. During flight, one can see a brilliant metallic (or iridescent) green or bronze patch on the inner wings. These inner wing patches are called specula, (the singular is speculum). There is a bright white trailing edge on the specula as well. Female Northern Pintails are more uniform in color. They have grayish-brown heads, backs, and wings, brown sides, pointed tails, blue-gray bills with black blotching, bronze-brown specula with a white trailing edge, and slate-gray legs and feet. They have a scalloped pattern on both their backs and chests. The plainer plumage (overall feather coloration) of the females makes them camouflage well while sitting on nests. Immature birds look similar to adult females but have dark bills, dark brown to tan heads, and have speckled white and brown bellies.

Both adult males and females have a similar drab coloration in their molting season, a four-week period after nesting is complete. During this time, Northern Pintails are a mottled brown and white all over with dark bills and pale, unmarked faces. This plumage is called eclipse plumage. Northern Pintails are flightless as they molt and become secretive as they wait for new wintering feathers to grow.

Where do Northern Pintails live and nest?

At various times of the year and in different regions, Northern Pintails are found along coasts and estuaries, in prairies, agricultural fields, flooded fields, shallow wetlands, meadows, grasslands, marshes, on or near streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, rivers, and even in treeless, in Arctic regions, also known as tundra, and in the far northern regions of the world also known as boreal habitat.

Female Northern Pintails often choose their nest sites further away from water than many other duck species. The nest site is a small clearing or shallow depression on the ground surrounded by low grasses or plants The female lines her nest with grasses, sometimes twigs and leaves, and her own down feathers. Only females incubate the eggs (sit on eggs to keep them warm) and the incubation period lasts for three to four weeks. Soon after the ducklings hatch, the mother leads them to the nearest body of water where they immediately swim and forage for themselves. Ducklings look for dead insects on the surface of the water. The mother stays close by the young birds for 4-6 weeks. The ducklings are able to fly in about 38-52 days after hatching. Female Northern Pintails will defend her chicks from predators by flying towards the threat to attempt to scare them or by leading predators away by pretending to be injured.

National Wildlife Refuges and agricultural fields are great places to look for Northern Pintails. There are several locations in the Sacramento Valley region to locate these ducks including: the Cosumnes River Preserve, Stone Lakes National Wildlife Preserve, the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, and the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve.

What do Northern Pintails eat?

In the fall and winter, Northern Pintails eat the seeds and nuts of weeds and grasses, and when available, will also take advantage of agricultural waste field grain. They are agile on both land and on water. Their bills are not only efficient at scooping up aquatic insects and plant seeds when in water but also at picking up seeds and grains when waddling on land. In both spring and summer, Northern Pintails will eat roots, algae, and new growth on aquatic plants. In the summer they eat protein-rich aquatic insects, mollusks, snails, crustaceans, and sometimes tadpoles and small fish. Northern Pintails forage (or search for food) either on or near the water’s surface. Their extra long necks allow them to reach further underwater than the other species of dabbling ducks. They find a good amount of food underwater in the mud. When foraging, Northern Pintails often tip their entire bodies so that their length is perpendicular to the water and pointing their tails toward the sky. They also will forage by dipping their heads and necks underwater as their bodies are swimming horizontal on the water.

What do Northern Pintails sound like?

The male and female Northern Pintails have different calls. The male’s call is usually higher in pitch. Some of the males’ calls are described as a “choop”, “geeheee”, “whee", or a soft “wheezy whistle". Females’ calls have been described as a coarse nasal “quack” or “croak" and also a “ke” or “kuk” sound. Ducklings’ calls are often a repeated soft “peep" or a louder repeated “peep" when in distress. You can listen to the calls of Northern Pintails now.

These sounds of Northern Pintail are from xeno-canto. More Northern Pintail vocalizations can be found at: https://xeno-canto.org/species/Anas-acuta

This article was compiled by Jane Van Kessel.

Sources include Cornell’s All About Birds and Birds of the World, National Audubon Society Field Guide, 150 Frequently Seen Birds of California’s Great Valley, Sibley Birds West: Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, Second Edition, by David Allen Sibley, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 2017 edition, Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufman, Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman, eBird.org, ducks.org, Smithsonian’s National Zoo, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service