NORTHERN PINTAIL 

 ( Anas acuta ) 



[DA: Spidsand, DU: Pijlstaart, FI: Jouhisorsa, FR: Canard pilet, GE: Spiessente, 

 IC: Grafond, IT: Codone , JA: Onagagamo , NW: Stjertand, PO: Rozeniec, PR: Arrabio, 

 RU: (Awltail), SP: Pato cola-puntiaguda comun, Pato pescuecilargo, Anade rabudo; 

 SW: Stjartand, US: Common Pintail, Sprig] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



One of the most widespread of the North American waterfowl, the Northern 

 Pintail breeds from the Aleutian Islands and Alaska east across northern Canada 

 to the Ungava Peninsula, and south to central California, northwestern New Mex- 

 ico, Kansas, Iowa, the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and Newfoundland. 

 Isolated nesting occasionally takes place south of these general boundaries (AOU 

 1957, Johnsgard 1975, Palmer 1976a). The species winters from southern Alaska 

 and coastal British Columbia through the western states, and on the Atlantic 

 coastal plain from New York to the Gulf of Mexico, through Mexico and Central 

 America, and in the Greater Antilles (AOU 1957, Bond 1971, Palmer 1976a). The 

 species also breeds across most of Europe and northern Asia, wintering south to 

 sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia (Dement ' ev and Gladkov 1952, Cramp et al . 

 1977). 



The Northern Pintail is a common winter bird in the coastal southeastern 

 United States (Map 14). Large proportions of the birds using the Atlantic Fly- 

 way winter in North Carolina (35,000) and South Carolina (87,000), where they 

 frequent rice fields, open ponds, and cypress lagoons (Sprunt and Chamberlain 

 1949, Bellrose 1976). Large numbers also winter in northern Florida (Bellrose 

 1976, Kale 1979 ms b). Birds from the Mississippi Flyway are concentrated in 

 the coastal marshes of Louisiana (est. 720,000) and coastal Texas (Bellrose 

 1976). 



SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OIL POLLUTION 



Pintails may be badly affected by oil. In inland areas of the Caspian Sea 

 they have been the most frequent victims of oiling (Vereshchagin 1946). Others 

 have suffered heavy mortality due to oil sumps in Wyoming (King 1953). At least 

 one Pintail was affected by the 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay (Smail et 

 al. 1972). Large numbers winter in and around the coastal marshes of the south- 

 east, and an oiling incident affecting shallow water areas could have an impact 

 on the North American population. However, they will probably be little affect- 

 ed by offshore oil production or by oil spills occurring at sea. 



Taxonomic note: The AOU Check-list (1957) gives the English name of this spe- 

 cies simply as Pintail. We prefer to call it the Northern Pintail following 

 Johnsgard (1975) and Palmer (1976a) to reduce confusion with other species re- 

 ferred to as Pintails (e.g., Bahama or White-cheeked Pintail, Anas bahamensis ). 



229 



