Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail
Photo credit: Jimmy Jackson
-Ahas acuta- 

Body Length: Male 26”—Female 20”

The male northern pintail is a strikingly handsome duck of the northern hemisphere. Chocolate brown head and long slender white neck.  Its slender body and gull-shaped wings make it easy to identify in flight. Black central tail feathers extend beyond the rest of long wedge-shaped tail.  The female exhibits drab mottled plumage.  A ground nester in northern prairie pothole regions. Favors both fresh and saltwater marsh habitat, often feeds in harvested grain fields. Present in Texas October through March.