Northern Pintail

The Northern Pintail is one of the most elegant of the dabbling ducks, with a slim, long-necked profile that sets it apart from the stockier Mallard. The breeding drake has a rich chocolate-brown head, a white breast that extends up the neck in a thin stripe, gray flanks, and, most distinctively, a long, thin, black central tail feather that gives the species its name.

Females are mottled brown like other dabbling duck hens but share the same slender build, pointed (though shorter) tail, and graceful long neck, making the species identifiable by shape even without the male's bold pattern.

Key Field Marks

• Slim, long-necked profile with a small head
• Breeding drake: chocolate-brown head, white breast with a thin white stripe running up the neck, gray body, long pointed black tail
• Female: mottled brown with a pointed (shorter) tail and slender shape
• Both sexes show a bronze-and-green speculum bordered in white/buff

Similar Species

Female Mallards are bulkier with a more rounded tail and a different bill pattern; the pintail's slender build and pointed tail are the best distinguishing features. No other regularly occurring duck combines the pintail drake's long tail spike with its clean white neck stripe.

Northern Pintails breed across open wetlands, prairie potholes, and Arctic tundra throughout much of North America, Europe, and Asia, favoring shallow, open water with minimal cover. They are highly migratory, undertaking some of the longest migrations of any North American duck, and winter across a broad swath of the southern United States, Mexico, and coastal wetlands, as well as similar latitudes in the Old World.

During migration and winter, large flocks gather in flooded agricultural fields, shallow marshes, and coastal estuaries, often mixing with other dabbling duck species.

Pintails are dabbling ducks that feed by tipping up in shallow water to reach submerged vegetation and invertebrates, and they also forage extensively on waste grain in agricultural fields, especially in winter. Their long necks allow them to reach food in slightly deeper water than many other dabblers.

The male's call is a soft, wheezy, whistled note, quite different from a Mallard's quack, while females give a lower, hoarse quack. Nests are shallow scrapes lined with grass and down, typically placed on the ground in open or lightly vegetated areas, sometimes considerable distances from water, which can leave nests vulnerable to predation.