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Among the most elegant of ducks, pintails range over more of the earth than any other waterfowl.
Northern Pintail
Northern Pintail 
Anas acuta
Among the most elegant of ducks, pintails have long, goose-like neck, sleek body and narrow, gull-like wings that make them swift, expert fliers. They range over more of the earth than any other waterfowl. Though some breed as far north as the Aleutian Islands and some winter as far south as Colombia, the greatest North American numbers winter in California and along the Gulf of Mexico, and breed in prairie Canada. Tragically, by the early 1990s, continental populations had dropped to less than a quarter of a nine-million-plus peak record in 1955 and 1956. Biologists blame reduced and degraded habitat as humans continue to convert land to other uses. If pintail numbers are to recover in the future, it will take a massive human effort to rehabilitate and preserve habitats.
Habitat: Shallow, fast-warming seasonal or permanent wetlands and prairie
Range: Circumpolar, north to the Arctic and south almost to the equator
