Northern pintail

Anas acuta

The Northern pintail (Anas acuta) is a bird found in United States, Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark and United Kingdom. Wetlands across the Northern Hemisphere. It eats leaves and other plant parts, insects and other small invertebrates and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Anas acuta
Region	North America
Found in	United States, Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark and United Kingdom

🏡 Where the Northern pintail lives

Wetlands across the Northern Hemisphere.

🍽️ What it eats

🌿 Leaves & plants50%
🐛 Insects & bugs20%
🌰 Seeds & nuts20%
🐾 Small animals10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 Males have a long pin-like tail feather and a white stripe on the neck.

Hear the Northern pintail

Recorded by Stanislas Wroza (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1167254. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Northern pintail

Where does the Northern pintail live?

The Northern pintail lives in United States, Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark and United Kingdom. Wetlands across the Northern Hemisphere.

What does the Northern pintail eat?

leaves and other plant parts (about 50%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 20%), seeds and nuts (about 20%), small animals (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Northern pintail endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.