Waterfowl Communities in the Northern Plains

Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail. -- Pintails are distributed somewhat more westerly than the other species, perhaps reflecting the fact that many of them winter in California. Highest density quartiles are in the southwestern portions of the Prairie Provinces and in Alaska. Pintails often are common in North Dakota, however, and the stratum containing the Woodworth Study Area is in the second highest quartile of densities. Continental populations of pintails fell dramatically between 1972 and 1989. Numbers at the Woodworth Study Area were correlated with continental numbers, but the declines were not in total synchrony (Fig. 10).

Although the correlation between numbers of pintails and wetlands in the Woodworth Study Area was significant, its value (r = 0.37) was somewhat lower than those reported for strata in the Prairie Pothole Region in general. Pintail numbers in the Woodworth Study Area varied inversely with temperatures in April, but April temperature was not included in the best regression equation.

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