Beak of the Week - Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Family: Anatidae

The Northern Pintail feeds on seeds and aquatic insects, which they usually find by up-ending while swimming, tipping forward and dabbling at food under the surface of the water. When feeding in this manner, their uniquely long necks allow them to reach food items that are up to a foot under the water surface, beyond the reach of other dabbling ducks like Mallard or Blue-winged Teal.

The Northern Pintail is a large duck with a distinctive long-necked, slender shape. Male Northern Pintails are patterned mostly gray and white, with a white stripe extending up the neck onto their otherwise dark brown head. They have a particularly long and pointed tail, for which the species is named, and in flight they show a light tan or whitish border on both the front and back edges of their iridescent green speculum. Female Northern Pintails are less strikingly colored, but they can easily be identified by their overall shape, wedge-shaped tail, and blueish bill.

Northern Pintails are generally one of the earliest waterfowl to migrate – they are one of the first to arrive in the Houston area in the fall, and they are one of the first to depart for more northern breeding grounds in the spring. While in our area, Northern Pintails can be found in fresh water ponds, lakes, and flooded fields, as well as in coastal salt marshes and along beaches. Northern Pintails generally feed most actively near both dawn and dusk, so they are often seen resting idly during the day.

By Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, Houston Audubon
📸 Photos by Greg Lavaty

---

Visit our Bird Gallery to read about other Texas birds!

Comments

How to DIY a Dripper for birds

Are you running out of home projects to keep busy during the quarantine? Here’s one my hubby made for me that you can try: a DYI Dripper. I’ve long wanted a bird dripper to complement my yard’s wildlife habitat, and with spring migrants on the way, I was keen to provide a drip that will attract new birds that don’t visit feeders. I had a problem though. There is no water line or power source near my feeders. The idea of stringing a hose or wire across the driveway just isn’t practical. Enter the engineer. My husband thought about the location and the limitations for a bit, and came up with the concept of sourcing water for a dripper off the sprinkler system. By using a toilet tank that fills every time the sprinklers run, water can be constantly available for the drip. I nixed the idea of a toilet tank sitting in my yard though, so he made some aesthetic modifications by installing a toilet tank float inside a 5 gallon bucket hidden inside a custom wooden box with a handsome copper p...

Beak of the Week - Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron ( Nyctanassa violacea ) Family: Ardeidae Our Beak of the Week is the official Bird of Houston , the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron! This seemingly hunch-backed bird can be a difficult one to spot. Both species of North American night-herons, yellow-crowned and black-crowned, forage mainly at night and spend most of the day hidden among branches near a body of water. These two birds can be differentiated easily by their plumage on and around their head. The most obvious difference is stated in their names: Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have a yellow crown and Black-crowned Night-Herons have a black crown. But that’s not the only difference! Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have a black head and face with a distinct thick white cheek stripe, whereas Black-crowned Night-Herons have a black head with gray on their face that extends down the whole front of the body. Yellow-crowned Night Herons also have a gray front and neck, but it contrasts greatly with their facial patter...

Beak of the Week - Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird ( Archilochus colubris ) Family: Trochilidae Did you know that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are able to fly in all 6 directions with wing beats of 53 times per a second? Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are bright emerald or golden-green on the back and crown with gray-white underparts. Males have a brilliant iridescent red throat while females and immatures have fine, dark throat streaking. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of red or orange tubular flowers as well as at hummingbird feeders and sometimes tree sap. Hummingbirds also catch insects in midair or pull them out of spider webs. In preparation for their migration, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds double their weight from 3 grams to over 6 grams prior to departing. In the fall, millions of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will pass through Texas on their migration to points south of the border with many crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight. They arrive from breeding grounds as far away as Nova Scotia...

Houston Audublog

Search This Blog