Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS

THE SWANS, GEESE, DUCKS, AND MERGANSERS

Pintailed Ducks

 Not far removed from these are the Pintailed Ducks (Dafila), which may be recognized at once by the rather long neck, the bill narrow and longer than the head, and above all by the elongation of the middle pair of tail-feathers in the male.

Two or three species are now recognized, the commonest and most widely distributed being the common Pintail (D. acuta) of the Northern Hemisphere in general, migrating south in winter to middle America and the West Indies in the New World, and to the Mediterranean countries, India, and the Indo-Malayan Archipelago in the Old World.

The sexes are much alike in summer, but in winter they are quite different, the male at this season having the head and upper neck olive-brown, the back of the neck black with a white stripe on each side which is confluent with the white of the breast and lower parts; the back, sides, and flanks marked with wavy lines of black and white, while the scapulars are velvety black edged with whitish, and the speculum is metallic green or bronzy purple; the length is from twenty-eight to thirty inches.

The Pintail breeds in North America from the northern United States northward, being, for example, the most universally abundant Duck found in North Dakota, where it is evenly distributed throughout the prairie regions in lakes breeding in North America from Texas to Alaska, and in the Old World in Europe and western Asia. In the male the head and neck are dark metallic green, the breast and outer scapulars white, while the lower parts are uniform chestnut.

The speculum is bright metallic green, the bill deep black, and the feet orange-red. The female is similar but duller and more grayish brown; the length is from seventeen to twenty-one inches. This species feeds largely in shallow water and was found breeding abundantly in North Dakota by Mr. Bent.

The nests were placed on the and ponds and sloughs wherever they are of sufficient size. Mr. Bent, who has had much experience among the water fowl of this region, states that the nest of the Pintail is”placed almost anywhere on dry ground, or sometimes near the edge of a slough or pond, sometimes on the islands in the lakes, but more often on the prairies, and sometimes a half a mile or more from the nearest water.

previous bird species next bird species