Description:

A rather large, slim, long-necked duck with a pointed tail. Male has chocolate-brown head, with white stripe down sides of neck. Female has comparatively uniform buffish head, slender grey bill, and (as male) shows white trailing edge to secondaries and greyish underwing in flight. Eclipse male resembles female.

Distribution:

Common passage migrant through major waterways and lakes all across Gilgit-Baltistan. Landing in the region during cloudy/harsh weather, at lakes, marshes, rivers and streams with fringe vegetation up to 4500m, avoiding turbulent waters.

Behavior:

Feeds principally by upending, dabbling and head dipping in shallow water, with occasional dives. Also grazes on dry land, picking at grain and digging out rhizomes and tubers using bill. Diet mostly seeds, tubers and vegetative parts of aquatic plants and sedges; in spring and summer, also aquatic invertebrates (insects, molluscs, crustaceans), amphibians and some small fish.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Northern Pintail in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Northern Pintail

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.