Northern Pintail

Photo by Vera Markham

All of us birdwatchers here in Arizona like to go to lakes, ponds and marshes to see the shorebirds and ducks. Some ducks are not easy to identify, but this one is. This is the first duck that I was able to quickly identify besides the Mallard. It’s the “greyhound of ducks” – the Northern Pintail.

Description:   It’s slender with long, narrow wings, long neck and with a notable long pointed tail. It has a dark brown head and a dark bill with a white neck-stripe almost up to the height of its eyes. The tail is black and ends at a black patch followed by a white patch before getting to its main gray color. On shore, it also has gray legs. 

Habitat:   These are dabbling ducks and are found mainly in shallow ponds and marshes. They like to dabble by tipping up and sometimes diving.

Diet:  They feed mainly on seeds and aquatic plants, but will eat minnows, insects and tadpoles.

Breeding:  They have one brood per year and their clutch is small (6-9 eggs) when compared to other ducks. Its nest is in stubble fields that have often been plowed and they are not well developed. The nests can be sometimes quite a ways from water.