By Sally Siko
One of the best things about living in NC are all the interesting and beautiful ducks which arrive to spend the winter.
We’ve got Gadwalls, Black Ducks, Widgeons, Teal and Ruddy Ducks too but few can match the elegance of the Pintail.
They are truly unique looking birds and IMO are among the most visually striking ducks one can see here in the Tarheel State.
I’ve spotted a bunch of them this year while birding in the OBX and always look forward to showing them off to my tour guests whenever they make an appearance.
The drakes are easy to identify when swimming amongst large mixed flocks with their chestnut colored heads and namesake pointy tails.
The Northern Pintail boasts the widest range of any other duck seen in the United States. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, and are known to winter and breed on all continents except for Australia and Antarctica.
During the wintertime, large flocks of Pintail can be seen at many of our coastal refuge regions here in North Carolina, such as Bodie and Pea islands in the Outer Banks, Lake Mattamuskeet, Pungo Lake, the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, and parts of Pamlico Sound.
A surface feeding duck, they dine on aquatic plants, seeds, grass, small aquatic animals, and insects. Their long elegant necks enable them to reach deeper than other dabbling ducks for seeds, roots and tubers of underwater plants. During the wintertime, they’re also commonly spotted in eastern North Carolina feeding on the leftover grains found open farm fields situated near water. They’ll stick around here until late April and will return next September once more to spend the winter in eastern NC.
Aren’t they lovely?
Want to see these gorgeous ducks too?
I still have tour dates available for booking this year so if you’d like to join me for a birding trip in eastern NC, check the calendar for reservation and tour info.
Photo by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5