Northern Pintail

Sleek and slender, it looks more like a drawing than a real dabbler.  The drake’s plumage—smooth gray on the sides and upper back; jet black accents along a tail in sharp relief; a chocolate head, richer than Venezuelan cocoa couverture; pearly white breast plotted like a pointed lapel against the darker colors—is aesthetically simple and, for me at least, appealing.

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North America, distinguishes this bird.  Around 1,000 nest in Wisconsin each year, gracing the marshes and grasslands with a sartorial gravitas.  The birds arrive early in the year, mid-March, hemming themselves along the shortgrass uplands relatively far from water, creating a runway from nest to wetlands where they dabble, court, and rest. 

With the eclipse, the drakes molt a new plumage, decidedly less crisp, swapping layers—fashion for comfort.  They also leave the hen to incubate the young and raise the newly hatched.  If found in a Wisconsin fall, the bird will be moving south hurried by the cold gray winds and skies that stole its color.  Think of the pin-up for waterfowl and you’ll see this bird, tailored in breeding plumage, the Northern Pintail. 

Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Land Steward

Photo by Rick Leche, Flickr Creative Commons