Listen to the northern pintail
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the northern pintail
The northern pintail is a bird in the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 90 cm and weigh around 1.0 kg.
What does the northern pintail sound like?
Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round. Listening for both helps with identification.
The recordings here are labelled as anas acuta and nocturnal flight call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The pintail or northern pintail (Anas acuta) is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding range as far as the equator. Unusually for a bird with such a large range, it has no geographical subspecies, although the possibly conspecific duck Eaton's pintail is considered to be a separate species.
Related birds in the genus Anas
More from the family Anatidae
Frequently asked questions
What does a northern pintail sound like?
You can hear 2 recordings of the northern pintail on this page, including its anas acuta and nocturnal flight call. Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round.
Is the northern pintail endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the northern pintail as “least concern”.
What family does the northern pintail belong to?
The northern pintail (Anas acuta) belongs to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.
Sources & credits
- Anas acuta – Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Nocturnal flight call · Oviedo, Asturias, Principado de Asturias, Spain by Luis Alvarez Menendez – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q25450 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Northern pintail – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Frank Schulenburg – CC BY-SA 4.0