Identification - In summer, males have a brown head and white breast and belly with a thin white finger extending up the neck from the breast. Note the long, black central pair of tail feathers that gives the bird its name. Females are a mottled brown. Both sexes have a grayish bill and a green wing patch with a white border on its trailing edge.
Morsels - When her ducklings are threatened, the hen pintail will feign injury as the young scatter and hide. To a predator, such as a fox, the female appears to be easy prey as she diverts attention from the young. Once the young have hidden, the female flies off, returning only when the threat is over.
