Eaton's Pintail
Anas eatoni
A small, mostly cinnamon-colored duck with dark brown cheek spot and a bluish bill with dark central ridge. Males have elongated central tail feathers and a green wing panel that is visible in flight. Mostly found on inland fresh water sources including lakes, streams and bogs. In winter forms coastal flocks of up to 200. Eaton’s Pintail is easily separated from the only other duck in its range, Mallard, by its much smaller size and its plain cinnamon appearance.
Identification
The Eaton’s pintail is a small duck, 35-45 cm in length, with a 65-70 cm wingspan and weighing 430-502 g in males and 400-500 g in females. Its adult male and female plumage is similarly brownish overall with cinnamon underparts, though the two sexes can be separated by the color of the speculum (green in males and brown in females) and the longer central retrices in males. Juveniles are similar to adults in plumage, but more streaked below.
Taxonomy
While previously considered a subspecies of northern pintail, the Eaton’s pintail is much smaller (one female Eaton’s pintail weighed 450 g, while the mean mass of female northern pintails is 871 g) and the male Eaton's pintail is female-like in patterning, unlike the sexually dimorphic northern pintail.<p>The species was described by Richard Bowdler Sharpe based on specimens collected by Alfred Edwin Eaton. In addition to Eaton’s specimens, Sharpe also noted that earlier specimens were collected during the Ross expedition.<p>There are two subspecies: A. eatoni eatoni (Kerguelen pintail) and A. eatoni drygalskii (Crozet pintail).
- Scientific name
- Anas eatoni
- Authority
- (Sharpe, 1875)
- Order
- Anseriformes
- Family
- Anatidae
- Genus
- Anas
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Eaton’s pintail's diet mostly consists of small crustaceans and other invertebrates, but will also forage on seeds. It occasionally visits southern elephant seal wallows to feed. <p>It breeds from November to March. Its nest is built in tussock or grass, and lines with moss and down. <p>This pintail’s vocalization is similar to the northern pintail’s: a soft proop-proop whistle in males and a quack in females, but higher-pitched and quieter.<p>The brown skua is a primary predator of the Eaton’s pintail, especially during its post-breeding molt when it is flightless. During this period, Eaton’s pintails will often shelter themselves in dense vegetation or caves.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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