Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) [XC650943]
by Martin Billard from Ruotila, Kouvola, Kymenlaakso, Finland (alarm call, call)
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) [XC884101]
by Johan Willner from R\u00e9serve Ornithologique Du Teich (near Le Teich), Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in northern Eurasia and North America.
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Nest
A neat, domed, well constructed cup of plant stems, on the ground or in reeds, lignum, waterside bushes, stumps or the hole of a swamp tree. Usually in the open.
Eggs (Guide)
7 - 9; yellowish; ellipsoidal. Incubation: about 23 days; by male.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Yellow-billed Pintail (Anas georgica). Southern Hemisphere subspecies sometimes considered to form separate species, Southern Pintail (Anas eatoni). Some consider drygalskii not separable from eatoni.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
acuta Linnaeus, 1758 - Most of Nearctic and Palearctic.
eatoni (Sharpe, 1875) - Kerguelen Islands. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Southern Pintail (Anas eatoni).
drygalskii Reichenow, 1904 - Crozet Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Southern Pintail (Anas eatoni).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet