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Pintails: Distribution |
The pintail is one of the most widespread species of ducks in the world
(see distribution map), and they annually
migrate between nesting and wintering areas, which may extend from Alaska to the Yucatan
Peninsula of Mexico. The pintail is circumpolar in distribution and is abundant in North
America, with core nesting habitat in Alaska and the Prairie Pothole Region of southern
Canada and the northern Great Plains in the U.S. The pintail is a bird of the west, with
the Pacific Flyway supporting well over half of all pintails in North America.
Nesting pairs favor shallow wetlands interspersed throughout prairie grasslands or arctic
tundra, as well as intermountain valley marshes of the western U.S. and Canada. Pintails
migrate early, beginning to arrive in wintering regions in August after wing molt, and
winter populations peak in December and January. The most important wintering region for
pintails in the world is the Central Valley of California (see pie chart),
followed by the Gulf Coast
marshes and inland rice prairies of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, as well as the West
Coast of Mexico. During winter, pintails favor shallowly flooded marshlands, native
pastures, and harvested agricultural fields, especially rice. Pintails forage on grains,
marsh plant seeds, and aquatic invertebrates throughout fall and winter. Spring migration
back to nesting regions begins as early as early February and is well under way by March.
Pintails begin to arrive in prairie nesting areas at the end of March or early April, and
incubation of nests is well underway in May.
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