Discovery For Recovery: Pintails! What are they?

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	Pintails! What are they?
	Distribution Reproduction Threats/Conservation
© Gary Zahm
The northern pintail (Anas acuta) is one of several species of dabbling ducks belonging to the tribe Anatini in the family Anatidae. Pintails are medium-sized ducks with slender, elegant lines and conservative plumage coloration. Males are larger than females (males: 850-1005 grams; females: 730-890 grams). The male in breeding plumage is readily distinguished from other dabbling ducks by a combination of chocolate brown head, white neck stripes, black/gray body feathers, and very long black central tail feathers, which give the species its name; the male has a bright green/purple iridescent speculum. The female is colored similarly to females of other dabbling ducks, basically a dull brown with black markings. Pintails are graceful, acrobatic flyers capable of darting and wheeling routines especially during pursuit or courtship flights, which are fast and vigorous with sudden rapid dives from great heights to low ground-level flight. Common vocalizations by females include the traditional decrescendo "quack" call that consists of one loud quack followed by a softer quack; males issue a series of "chirps" and whistles. Pintails employ an elaborate series of displays during courtship, including "head-up-tail-up," "grunt-whistles," and "chin lifts." Pintails are very wary, long-lived ducks that tend to survive at higher rates than other ducks. The maximum longevity in the wild was recorded at 21 years 4 months based on a California-banded adult male recovered by a hunter in Idaho. Average life spans would be considerably shorter than this, but relative to other duck species, pintails are long-lived in the wild.

Find Out More! Austin, J.E., and M.R. Miller. 1995. Northern Pintail (Anas acuta). in The Birds of North America, No. 163 (A. Poole and F. Gill, editors). The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologist's Union, Washington, D.C. [Purchase a copy of this report from Buteo Books] Bellrose, F.C. 1980. Ducks, geese, and swans of North America. Wildlife Management Institute and Stackpole Books, Harrisburg PA [Order a copy of this book from Stackpole Books or Wildlife Management Institute]

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