Please see picture gallery below – if you have any pix please send to sheilaelliot@yahoo.com)

September Bird of the Month – Northern Pintail 

From Ben Kolstad’s article in the July-August Kite:

This month’s bird, Northern Pintail – Anas acuta, continues (but does not conclude) our duck theme. Found nearly worldwide, at least in the northern hemisphere (that is, its range is circumpolar), the pintail is not likely to be confused with any other duck. The drake is quite handsome, with its long slender build, rich chestnut head accented by a white stripe running up the neck, and, in full plumage, the long tailfeathers that give it both its common name and its specific epithet (acuta is Latin for sharp, pointed). Its flight profile, though, does not depend on this extra-long tail; even without the extra length of the male’s pin feathers, the combination of slender build and long tail make IDing this duck in flight rather easier than most.

In migration, this is a “FIFO” duck: first in line in the spring, first out of town in the fall. As you might expect, it’s also among the earlier breeding migrants. When it’s here in the winter, it associates readily with other ducks but is rather more clannish in migration, appearing more often in single-species flocks and flights than in mixed company.

The pintail, like the teals, is a “puddle duck”: it feeds on the surface and takes off from rest, rather than requiring a running start like the diving ducks.

Come to our September meeting to hear more about this elegant winter resident of our marshes and STAs.

(Photographer’s please note that next month’s October 2014 Bird will be the  American Wigeon)