(Photos and story by Pam Hunt)

As winter finally comes to an end in March and our rivers and lakes begin to open up, waterfowl are some of the first birds to return to New Hampshire. One of the earliest of these is the Northern Pintail, a species that sometimes appears in late February and which is increasingly present through the winter in the southern portion of the state. We rarely see more than 2-3 at a time, but they are regular along the major rivers and near the coast. They will often be mixed in with flocks of the more common Mallard and American Black Duck, where the distinctive males will often stand out during a thorough scan. Although the females are brown like most other female ducks, they have a subtle beauty of their own once you get to know them. Pintail migration in New Hampshire peaks in March and October, and they are essentially absent between May and August.

The pintail is one of the most widespread ducks in the world, occurring across much of the northern hemisphere at some point in the year. Here in North America most of the population breeds in Alaska or the U.S. and Canadian prairies, with smaller numbers in the Canadian arctic, along the St. Lawrence River, and in the Canadian Maritimes. It was once one of the most abundant ducks on the continent, with a population peaking at 6-10 million birds from the 1950s through 1970s. Pintails began to decline in the 1980s and are currently estimated at roughly half the earlier numbers, although the trend appears to have stabilized.

Historically, pintail numbers varied considerably in response to changing habitat conditions, usually related to water levels. They prefer to nest in relatively shallow water, and in drought years the prairie potholes used for nesting can dry out and the ducks fail to breed. On the plus side, pintails can also be highly nomadic, and during drought in one area, a significant portion of the population might shift to a wetter part of the range and nest there. Longer term declines are probably due to a combination of more frequent drought and intensifying agriculture, including draining or filling wetlands on the Great Plains. Farmers also leave fewer fields fallow in spring and early summer, which also reduces available habitat. Some of these same issues can affect winter habitat, especially in heavily agricultural areas such as central California and in parts of the southeastern U.S. Birds using old agricultural fields during the non-breeding season also run the risk of ingesting contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and other toxins.

Because the northeastern U.S. is at the far edge of the pintail’s extensive range, there aren’t enough data to determine a regional trend. Numbers here are small, and perhaps because intensive agriculture and drought are less prevalent, we haven’t seen significant changes in numbers passing through New Hampshire.

State of the Birds at a Glance:

• Habitat: Marsh and Shrub Wetlands, Lakes and Rivers, Agricultural Fields, Coastal
• Migration: Short-distance
• Population trend: Stable
• Threats: Wetland Loss, Climate Change
• Conservation actions: Manage Waterfowl Harvest, Protect Wetlands

More information on “The State of New Hampshire’s Birds” is available here. Full species profiles in the format of “Bird of the Month” are now available here.