- Browse
- Gallery
- Checklists
- Topography
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Feedback
- About Us
Northern Pintail
Latin Name:
Anas acuta
Category:
Size:
60cm
Description:
A slender duck with a pointed tail. Male: greyish above; chocolate-brown head and upper neck; thin white stripe up neck side; bronze-green speculum. Female:
mottled buff-brown; pointed tail lacks longer tailpins; whitish belly. Non-breeding male like female, but mantle greyish. In flight, pointed tail between feet distinctive. Highly gregarious; extremely common on vegetation-covered jheels; males often in separate flocks, especially on arrival in winter grounds; crepuscular and nocturnal; characteristic hissing swish of wings as flock flies over.
Habitat:
vegetation-covered jheels, lagoons
Food:
shoots, seeds of aquatic plants, rice, also water insects and molluscs.
Distribution:
winter visitor across the subcontinent.
Call:
Call Description:
usually quiet
IUCN:
National Status:
At IITK: