Sharon C Johnson
Mr and Mrs Northern Pintail
Northern pintails are long, slender ducks with long, narrow wings, earning them the nickname "greyhound of the air." Pintails are named for their elongated central tail feathers, which constitute one-fourth of the drake's body length. Male northern pintails have a chocolate-brown head with a white stripe on each side of the neck extending up from the white breast and belly. The back is blackish-gray and the rump has a white patch on each side.
Northern pintails are among the first ducks to migrate south in the fall and north in the spring. Over half of the pintail population in North America migrates through California.
Mr and Mrs Northern Pintail
Northern pintails are long, slender ducks with long, narrow wings, earning them the nickname "greyhound of the air." Pintails are named for their elongated central tail feathers, which constitute one-fourth of the drake's body length. Male northern pintails have a chocolate-brown head with a white stripe on each side of the neck extending up from the white breast and belly. The back is blackish-gray and the rump has a white patch on each side.
Northern pintails are among the first ducks to migrate south in the fall and north in the spring. Over half of the pintail population in North America migrates through California.