Northern Pintail

This species is defined as a Review Species . Please submit your records of this species via our record submission page .

Scientific Name: Anas acuta

Malay Name: Itik-Runcing Utara

Chinese Name: 针尾鸭

Range: Found from Europe to North Africa, temperate Asia and North America, wintering to Equatorial Africa, Indian subcontinent, southern China, Korea, Japan, mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Central and South America.

Taxonomy: Monotypic.

Size: 51-56 cm

Identification: Male has distinctive long slender neck with dark chocolate-brown head, white lower foreneck and upper breast, black tail-coverts and elongated central tail feathers. Female has long darkish grey bill, plain brown head and pointed tail. Juvenile resembles female but upperparts darker.

Habitat: Lakes, rivers, marshes and various wetland habitats.

Behaviour/Ecology: Keeps to shallow water, feeding on minute aquatic animals and plants.

Local Status: Vagrant

Conservation Status: Least Concern (BirdLife International 2019)

Past records in our database:

Showing only accepted records. Note that records currently under review are also not displayed, and the list may not be a full list of records of this species in Singapore. For more details, check the database here.

Migrant bar chart (see more bar charts):

Northern Pintail Anas acuta
Average number of individuals by week based on Singapore Bird Database data, Jul 2013 to Jun 2023 (all records)
Early date 01 Nov 1983
Late date 07 Mar 2020
Another rare vagrant duck, with two records in the last decade.
Northern Pintail (female) at Tokyo Ueno Park. Photo credit: See Toh Yew Wai
Northern Pintail (male) at Tokyo Ueno Park. Photo credit: See Toh Yew Wai
Northern Pintail (female) at Tokyo Ueno Park. Photo credit: See Toh Yew Wai
Northern Pintail (male) at Tokyo Ueno Park. Photo credit: See Toh Yew Wai
Northern Pintail (female) at Tokyo Ueno Park. Photo credit: See Toh Yew Wai

External Links:

Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page

Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link

Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link

eBird Species page: eBird (Northern Pintail)

References:

BirdLife International. (2019). Anas acuta. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22680301A153882797.en. Accessed on 1 January 2023

Jeyarajasingam, A., & Pearson, A. (2012). A Field Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Oxford University Press.

Lim, K. S. (2009). The Avifauna of Singapore. Nature Society (Singapore).

Robson, C. (2014). Field guide to the birds of South-East Asia (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (n.d.). Northern Pintail. Retrieved on December 4, 2023 from https://singaporebirds.com/species/northern-pintail.

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