Northern Pintail
(Anas acuta)

Overview

Summary

© Jukka Jantunen
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Northern Pintail is present across the country; its core breeding range is in the Prairie Potholes Region of western Canada. Annual nest success and productivity vary with water conditions in the Prairies. Periods of extended drought in the 1980s caused population declines. Since 1990, the population has been slowly increasing, but has not fully recovered to the numbers observed in the 1970s. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

The expansion of agriculture and changes in farming practices likely contribute to the disappearance of potential breeding habitats (Podruzny et al. 2002). Habitat loss and degradation in the Prairie Pothole Region is therefore a major concern for Northern Pintails in the Prairie. In Canada, the pintail harvest has decreased by approximately 70–80% since the 1980s. This decline is consistent with the decrease in abundance observed for the population, as well as in the number of hunters.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee. 2014. Population Status of Migratory Game Birds in Canada: November 2014. CWS Migratory Birds Regulatory Report Number 44. Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee. 2014. Population Status of Migratory Game Birds in Canada: November 2014. CWS Migratory Birds Regulatory Report Number 44. (Link)
• North American Waterfowl Management Plan. 2012. North American Waterfowl Management Plan 2012: People Conserving Waterfowl and Wetlands. Canadian Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. xii + 48 pp. North American Waterfowl Management Plan. 2012. North American Waterfowl Management Plan 2012: People Conserving Waterfowl and Wetlands. Canadian Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. xii + 48 pp. (Link)
• Podruzny, K. M., Devries, J. H., Armstrong, L. M., and Rotella, J. J. 2002. Long-term response of Northern Pintails to changes in wetlands and agriculture in the Canadian Prairie Pothole Region. Journal of wildlife management 66(4): 993-1010. Podruzny, K. M., Devries, J. H., Armstrong, L. M., and Rotella, J. J. 2002. Long-term response of Northern Pintails to changes in wetlands and agriculture in the Canadian Prairie Pothole Region. Journal of wildlife management 66(4): 993-1010. (Link)