Index of Species Information
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Anas acuta
Introductory
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Tesky, Julie L. 1993. Anas acuta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
Available: www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/animals/bird/anac/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
ANAC
COMMON NAMES :
northern pintail
pintail
American pintail
common pintail
sprig
sprigtail
spike
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for the northern pintail is Anas
acuta Linnaeus. There are no recognized subspecies [1,3,10].
ORDER :
Anseriformes
CLASS :
Bird
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Anas acuta
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
The northern pintail has one of the most extensive breeding ranges of
any North American duck [14]. Its breeding range extends from northern
Alaska across northern Canada to northern and eastern Quebec, New
Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and from from California across the Great
Lakes region to St. Lawrence River, Maine [3,10]. The northern pintail
also breeds in Greenland, Iceland, Europe, Asia, and in the Kerguelen
and Corozet Islands [10]. These ducks winter from southern Alaska south
to northern New Mexico and east to central Missouri and the Ohio Valley,
and along the Atlantic from Massachusetts south throughout the southern
United States to South America [3,10,13].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES11 Spruce-fir
FRES14 Oak-pine
FRES15 Oak-hickory
FRES17 Elm-ash-cottonwood
FRES18 Maple-beech-birch
FRES19 Aspen-birch
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES41 Wet grasslands
FRES42 Annual grasslands
STATES :
| AL |
AK |
AZ |
AR |
CA |
CO |
CT |
DE |
FL |
GA |
| ID |
IL |
IN |
IA |
KS |
KY |
LA |
ME |
MD |
MA |
| MI |
MN |
MS |
MO |
MT |
NE |
NV |
NH |
NJ |
NM |
| NY |
NC |
ND |
OH |
OK |
OR |
PA |
RI |
SC |
SD |
| TN |
TX |
UT |
VT |
VA |
WA |
WV |
WI |
WY |
DC |
| AB |
BC |
MB |
NB |
NF |
NT |
NS |
ON |
PE |
PQ |
| SK |
YT |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K005 Mixed conifer forest
K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
K025 Alder - ash forest
K029 California mixed evergreen forest
K047 Fescue - oatgrass
K048 California steppe
K049 Tule marshes
K050 Fescue - wheatgrass
K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
K053 Grama - galleta steppe
K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
K057 Galleta - three-awn shrubsteppe
K058 Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe
K063 Foothills prairie
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K065 Grama - buffalograss
K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
K068 Wheatgrass - grama - buffalograss
K069 Bluestem - grama prairie
K070 Sandsage - bluestem prairie
K072 Sea oats prairie
K073 Northern cordgrass prairie
K074 Bluestem prairie
K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
K076 Blackland prairie
K077 Bluestem - sacahuista prairie
K078 Southern cordgrass prairie
K079 Palmetto prairie
K080 Marl - everglades
K081 Oak savanna
K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100
K088 Fayette prairie
K090 Live oak - sea oats
K091 Cypress savanna
K092 Everglades
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K094 Conifer bog
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
K098 Northern floodplain forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
K109 Transition between K104 and K106
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
12 Black spruce
13 Black spruce - tamarack
16 Aspen
17 Pin cherry
18 Paper birch
19 Gray birch - red maple
38 Tamarack
5 Balsam fir
63 Cottonwood
88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf oak
89 Live oak
91 Swamp chestnut oak - cherrybark oak
95 Black willow
201 White spruce
202 White spruce - paper birch
203 Balsam poplar
204 Black spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
217 Aspen
235 Cottonwood - willow
253 Black spruce - white spruce
254 Black spruce - paper birch
252 Paper birch
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Northern pintails commonly inhabit wetland communities dominated by
cattail (Typha spp.), bulrush (Scirpus spp.), whitetop (Scolochloa
festucacea), and other emergent and aquatic vegetation [1,5]. Nests of
these ducks are often found in extensive stands of whitetop, bluegrass
(Poa spp.), or hardstem bulrushes (Scirpus acutus); juncus (Juncus spp.)
beds; mixed prairie grasses; and burned weed areas. Northern pintails
nest in farmland habitats more than other species of waterfowl do.
Stubble fields, roadsides, hayfields, pastures, field edges, and fields
of growing grain are often chosen as nest sites [1].
REFERENCES :
NO-ENTRY
BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Anas acuta
TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS :
Age at first reproduction - Northern pintails become sexually mature in
their first winter of life, and most females attempt to breed as
yearlings [10].
Pair formation/breeding - Pair formation occurs over several months,
starting on wintering areas in early December and continuing through the
spring migration [10]. Pairs generally arrive on their breeding grounds
in early spring and breed from April through June [13].
Nesting - From South Dakota to Utah and California and north to Brooks,
Alberta; Redvers, Saskatchewan; and the Delta marshes, Manitoba, nesting
begins from early to mid-April. However, cold weather just prior to
nesting may delay initiation by as much as 2 weeks [1]. Farther north,
northern pintails nest later. At Yellowknife, Northwest Territories,
first nests were started as early as May 7 and as late as May 21. On
the Yukon flats, northern pintails began to nest May 8 to 18 [1].
Clutch/incubation and fledging - Northern pintails generally lay between
6 and 12 eggs per nest [14]. The average clutch is eight eggs [10].
Incubation takes 22 to 23 days [14]. The ducklings fledge within 40 to
46 days [10].
Migration - After their postbreeding molt, northern pintails migrate to
wintering grounds from mid-August onwards [13]. While some are leaving
their arctic breeding grounds in Alaska in September others are arriving
on their winter grounds in California, Texas, and Louisiana [1].
Northern pintails in the northern Great Plains region are at their
greatest abundance the first week in September. In the central Great
Plains region they are abundant through September and early October.
Small numbers of northern pintails arrive on Gulf Coast marshes and
lagoons of Louisiana and Texas in September. The number of arrivals is
greatest through October to December. They start to leave their
wintering grounds in late January or early February, and departure
continues through March [1].
PREFERRED HABITAT :
Breeding habitat - The northern pintail's breeding habitat varies
greatly throughout its geographic range. In general, however, the
northern pintail typically inhabit open country with low vegetation and
many scattered small shallow bodies of water. It frequents lakes,
rivers, marshes, and ponds in grasslands, barrens, dry tundra, open
boreal forest, and cultivated fields [3,10,13]. Areas where water is
lined with trees are avoided, but this duck is often associated with
brushy thickets or aspen (Populus spp.) coppices around sloughs in
western Canada [10,19]. In the arctic, it is found in marshy, low
tundra where shallow freshwater lakes occur, especially those with dense
vegetation along the shoreline [10].
Winter habitat - The northern pintail's winter habitat is also diverse;
they winter on freshwater and brackish coastal marshes, shallow lagoons,
mudflats along rivers, and sheltered marine waters [3,10,13].
Nest - The northern pintail builds its nest in a hollow on dry ground
generally within 300 feet (91 m) of water. These nests are generally
hidden in weeds and grasses or under small shrubs [13,14]. This duck
nests in stubble fields, in a dry portion within a large marsh, or in
lightly grazed pasture but generally avoid nesting in timbered or
extensively brushy areas [3].
COVER REQUIREMENTS :
Northern pintails are associated with relatively large water areas
generally exceeding 10 acres (4 ha) [9]. They need exposed water
margins for resting [3]. These ducks prefer open shallow waters and
mudflats for resting and preening [9]. Howard and Kantrud [9] suggest
that optimal winter habitat for northern pintails should contain less
than 30 percent coverage by persistent emergent vegetation. In Texas,
use of wetlands by northern pintails was high if relatively tall
emergent growth covered less than 20 percent of the surface; ponds with
greater than 60 percent coverage by tall emergent growth was used
little. Northern pintails use denser cover at night than is typically
used during the day [9]. Areas with small shrubs, grass, or weeds
provide nesting cover for northern pintails [3].
FOOD HABITS :
Northern pintails are surface feeders. They generally feed in shallow
waters of marshes, ponds, and wet meadows or grain fields. They mainly
consume seeds, roots, and leaves of aquatic plants, emergents, and many
terrestrial plants [10,14]. Plants commonly eaten by northern pintails
include pondweeds (Potamogeton spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), smartweed
(Polygonum spp.), fall panicum (Panicum dichotomiflorus), brownseed
paspalum (Paspalum plicatulum), panic grass (Panicum spp.), bulrush,
widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima), chufa (Cyperus spp.), and saltgrass
(Distichlis spp.) [1,3]. Northern pintails eat the grains of wheat,
barley, corn, rice, and oats. On their wintering grounds in Texas,
northern pintails make extensive use of barley and rice grains [1].
Northern pintails also eat a small amount of animal matter such as
minnows, crawfish, fairly shrimp, tadpoles, leeches, worms, snails,
insects, and larvae [3,14,18].
PREDATORS :
Northern pintails nest early and in more open sites than other species
of ducks and therefore may suffer greater nest loss from predation.
Predators of northern pintails include humans, crows (Corvus spp.),
skunks (Mephitis spp.), magpies (Pica spp.), gulls (Larus spp.), ground
squirrels (Spermophilus spp.), coyotes (Canis latrans), foxes (Vulpes
spp.), racoons (Procyon lotor), and badgers (Taxidea taxus) [1].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Northern pintail nests are especially vulnerable to farming operations
because pintails nest in stubble fields. A study of northern pintails
nesting on the Portage Plains, Manitoba, showed that farming operations
directly destroyed 57 percent of all northern pintail nests in 1956 and
41 percent of all nests in 1957. Losses were caused by cultivation,
disking, mowing, plowing, and harrowing [1].
During drought years, many northern pintails will migrate farther north
to breeding areas of the boreal forests and subarctic and arctic deltas
[1]. Arctic coastal plain wetlands with rich invertebrate food
resources and stable water levels are important for northern pintails
during years of drought in the prairie regions [20].
REFERENCES :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Anas acuta
DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS :
Stubble fields in which northern pintails nest are often burned in the
spring by farmers. Therefore, northern pintail nests are highly
susceptible to destruction by fire [1,5]. Ducklings and molting adults
are very vulnerable to fire. When not molting, adult northern pintails
can probably easily escape fire.
HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS :
Fire can destroy nesting cover used by northern pintails. One study of
agricultural spring burning within Manitoba's pothole region showed that
northern pintails preferred unburned nest cover [5]. Here, fires before
May 10 destroy nesting cover and nests of these ducks. Large-scale
autumn burning can have a detrimental effect on marshes by reducing
their ability to catch and retain drifting snow, which adds heavily to
spring run-off. The ability of marsh vegetation to catch and hold snow
can be vital to marsh survival [17].
The effects of fire on northern pintails are not all negative; fire can
create feeding habitat. According to Hoffpauer [8] it is not uncommon
to see large numbers of northern pintails in recently burned areas on
Louisiana and Texas coastal marshes. On these burns, northern pintails
feed upon small aquatic grubs that have been stirred up by snow geese
(Chen caerulescens). Additionally, fire often removes excessive
accumulations of fast-growing hydrophytes permitting better waterfowl
access and growth of more desirable duck foods. Fire can also convert
forested uplands adjacent to aquatic habitats to grasses and sedges,
thus increasing the nesting potential of some waterfowl [16].
FIRE USE :
Wetlands can be burned to create nesting edge for waterfowl and reverse
plant succession to a subclimax plant community which is more attractive
to waterfowl. Control of woody encroachment is vital if prairie marshes
are to remain in this successional state [17]. Fire can be used to
reduce predator activity through the elimination of hiding cover.
Fritzell [5] found greater hatching success in burned versus unburned
cover, suggesting a reduction of predator activity in burned areas.
Desirable northern pintail foods such as pondweed can be restored using
fire by removing fast-growing undesirable species such as common reed
(Phragmites australis) [15]. The best way to reduce common reed with
prescribed burning is to burn during the summer when carbohydrate
reserves in the plant are low and when the soil is dry [7].
If prescribed burning is used as a management tool in marshes, burning
must be conducted before or after the nesting season [15,17]. Spring
burning in the Manitoba pothole region must be completed before April 20
when northern pintails start nesting [17].
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
REFERENCES :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Anas acuta
REFERENCES :
1. Bellrose, Frank C. 1980. Ducks, geese and swans of North America.
Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books. 3rd ed. 540 p. [19802]
2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. DeGraaf, Richard M.; Scott, Virgil E.; Hamre, R. H.; [and others]. 1991.
Forest and rangeland birds of the United States: Natural history and
habitat use. Agric. Handb. 688. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 625 p. [15856]
4. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
5. Fritzell, Erik K. 1975. Effects of agricultural burning on nesting
waterfowl. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 89: 21-27. [14635]
6. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
7. Higgins, Kenneth F.; Kruse, Arnold D.; Piehl, James L. 1989. Effects of
fire in the Northern Great Plains. Ext. Circ. EC-761. Brookings, SD:
South Dakota State University, Cooperative Extension Service, South
Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. 47 p. [14749]
8. Hoffpauier, Clark M. 1968. Burning for coastal marsh management. In:
Newsom, John D., ed. Proceedings of the marsh and estuary management
symposium; 1967; Baton Rouge, LA. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State
University: 134-139. [15274]
9. Howard, Rebecca J.; Kantrud, Harold A. 1986. Habitat suitability index
models: northern pintail (Gulf Coast wintering). Biological Report
82(10.121). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and
Wildlife Service. 16 p. [20030]
10. Johnsgard, Paul A. 1979. A guide to North American waterfowl.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 274 p. [20026]
11. Kruse, Arnold D.; Higgins, Kenneth F. 1990. Effects of prescribed fire
upon wildlife habitat in northern mixed-grass prairie. In: Alexander, M.
E.; Bisgrove, G. F., technical coordinators. The art and science of fire
management: Proceedings, 1st Interior West Fire Council annual meeting
and workshop; 1988 October 24-27; Kananaskis Village, AB. Inf. Rep.
NOR-X-309. Edmonton, AB: Forestry Canada, Northwest Region, Northern
Forestry Centre: 182-193. [14146]
12. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
13. Madge, Steve; Burn, Hilary. 1988. Waterfowl: An indentification guide to
the ducks, geese and swans of the world. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
Company. 298 p. [20029]
14. Musgrove, Jack W.; Musgrove, Mary R. 1943. Waterfowl in Iowa. Des
Moines, IA: State Convservation Committee. 113 p. + index. [20028]
15. Schlichtemeier, Gary. 1967. Marsh burning for waterfowl. In:
Proceedings, 6th annual Tall Timbers fire ecology conference; 1967 March
6-7; Tallahassee, FL. No. 6. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research
Station: 40-46. [16450]
16. Vogl, Richard J. 1967. Controlled burning for wildlife in Wisconsin. In:
Proceedings, 6th annual Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference; 1967 March
6-7; Tallahassee, FL. No. 6. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research
Station: 47-96. [18726]
17. Ward, P. 1968. Fire in relation to waterfowl habitat of the delta
marshes. In: Proceedings, annual Tall Timbers fire ecology conference;
1968 March 14-15; Tallahassee, FL. No. 8. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers
Research Station: 255-267. [18932]
18. Bent, Arthur Cleveland. 1962. Life histories of North American wild
fowl. Part 1. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 244 p. [20027]
19. Vermeer, Kees. 1970. Some aspects of the nesting of ducks on islands in
Lake Newell, Alberta. Journal of Wildlife Management. 34(1): 126-129.
[20041]
20. Derkson, D. V.; Eldridge, W. D. 1980. Drought displacement of pintails
to the Arctic Coast Plain, Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management. 44:
224-229. [20258]
21. Donohoe, Robert W. 1974. American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana Walt.
In: Gill, John D.; Healy, William M., eds. Shrubs and vines for
northeastern wildlife. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-9. Upper Darby, PA: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest
Experiment Station: 86-88. [13714]
FEIS Home Page
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