General

Northern Pintail: Large, long-necked dabbling duck with gray and black upperparts, white neck and underparts, and gray sides. Head, throat, and nape are rich brown; a distinct white stripe divides front and back of neck. Wings are gray with glossy green speculum bordered with cinnamon-brown above and white below. Tail is black, long, and pointed. Bill is slender and pale gray; legs and feet are gray. Female is mottled gray-brown overall with gray wings, plain brown head, pointed but shorter tail, and dark gray bill. Juvenile resembles female but is paler brown. Eclipse male is gray overall with buff-brown head and paler neck.

Range and Habitat

Northern Pintail: Breeds from Alaska and Labrador south to California, Nebraska, and Maine. Spends winters south to Central America and the West Indies; also in Eurasia. Preferred habitats include marshes, prairie ponds, tundra, and sometimes salt marshes.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"geee", "pruh", "prripp"

Interesting Facts

 Unusually for a bird with such a large range, the Northern Pintail has no geographical subspecies if the possibly conspecific Eaton's Pintail is considered to be a separate species.

 The scientific name comes from two Latin words: anas, meaning "duck", and acuta, which comes from the verb acuere, which means "sharpen"; the species term, like the English name, refers to the pointed tail of the male.

 This elegant duck with its trim form and swift flight, has been dubbed 'the greyhound of the air’. It has also been called pintail, sprig, sprigtail, spike, and spiketail.

 A group of ducks has many collective nouns, including a "brace", "flush", "paddling", "raft", and "team" of ducks.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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