Name
Anas acuta
Northern pintail
Framing
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Anas
Species: acuta
Habitat
Aquatic environments. Lakes and lagoons, also rivers and other aquatic environments. The species shows a marked preference for shallow waterlogged areas. For breeding, it uses grasslands close to water bodies and even seasonal shallow water pools. During the winter it is concentrated in coastal habitats or in wetlands close to the coast.
Feeding
It is mainly a vegetarian duck, although it can also consume animal matter, especially larvae of aquatic insects and molluscs.
Distribution
Eurasia, North America and North Africa
Conservation status
In Spain it is considered vulnerable to extinction.
Additional information
Free-living. Gregarious, in pairs during breeding. Slender duck, with long neck and pointed tail. As in most Anatidae, there is a marked difference between males and females during the breeding season. Thus, males have a chocolate colour on the head, with a thin white line on both sides that joins the white of the neck and breast. The dorsal area and flanks are greyish, finely striped, while the stern is black and the rump is greenish. The beak, black and rather elongated, has blue sides. But the most characteristic and striking feature is the length of the two central tail feathers or rectrices, hence the name, as well as the wing coverts. The females, of brownish and mottled tones, with dark brown mirrors edged with white, are easily distinguished from those of other ducks by their more slender shape and, above all, by the greater length of their rectrices.
Additional information
Bibliography
- Amat, J. A. (1980). Biología y ecología de la comunidad de patos del Parque Nacional de Doñana. Tesis Doctoral. Universidad de Sevilla.
- Amat, J. A., Díaz-Paniagua, C., Herrera, C. M., Jordano, P., Obeso, J. R. & Soriguer, R. C. (1985). Criterios de valoración de zonas húmedas de importancia nacional y regional en función de las aves acuáticas. Monografías 35 ICONA, Madrid.
- BirdLife International (2015). European red list of birds. Office for official publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.
- BirdLife International (2017). European birds of conservation concern: populations, trends and national responsibilities. UK: BirdLife International, Cambridge.
- BirdLife International (2020). IUCN Red List for birds. http://www.birdlife.org
- Cramp, S., Simmons, K. E. L. (1977). Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: the birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 1: Ostrich to ducks. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- De Juana, E. & Garcia, E. (2015). The birds of the Iberian Peninsula. Christopher Helm, London.
- Fox, T. (2005). Northern pintail Anas acuta . En: Ducks, geese, and swans (pp. 595-599). Kear, J. (Ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York.
- Gonzáles, R. & Pérez-Aranda, D. (2011). La invernada de aves acuáticas en España, 1980-2009. SEO/Birdlife, Madrid.
- Gurd, D. B. (2006). Filter-feeding dabbling ducks (Anas spp.) can actively select particles by size. Zoology,109, 120-126.
- Madroño, A., González, C. & Atienza, J. C. (2004). Libro Rojo de las Aves de España. Dirección General para la biodiversidad SEO/BirdLife, Madrid.
- Martí, R. & Del Moral, J. C. (2003). La Invernada de Aves Acuáticas en España. Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza-SEO/Birdlife. Organismo Autónomo Parque Nacionales, Serie Técnica. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Madrid.
- Molina, B. (2009). Ánade rabudo. En: Aves acuáticas reproductoras en España. Población en 2007 y método de censo (pp.49-51). Palomino, D. & Molina, B. (Eds.). SEO/BirdLife, Madrid.
- Molina, B., Máñez, M. & Ibáñez, F. (2003). Ánade Rabudo. En: Atlas de las Aves Reproductoras de España (pp. 138-139). Martí, R. & del Moral, J. C. (Eds.). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente-SEO/ BirdLife, Madrid.
- Molina, B. & Prieta, J. (2012). Ánade rabudo. En: Atlas de las aves en invierno en España 2007-2010 (pp. 86-87). Del Moral, J. C., Molina, B., Bermejo, A. & Palomino, D. (Eds.). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente-SEO/ BirdLife, Madrid.
- Parejo, M. (2018). Papel de las poblaciones de aves acuáticas en humedales antrópicos del sur de Europa: Ecología de las anátidas migratorias de largas distancias invernantes en Extremadura. Tesis Doctoral. Universidad de Extremadura.
- Sociedad Española de Ornitología (1985). Estudio sobre la Biología Migratoria del Orden Anseriformes (Aves) en España. Monografías, 38. ICONA, Madrid.