# Northern pintail (*Anas acuta*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-pintail  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The northern pintail (Anas acuta) is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It is a small bird by our size class, with an adult body mass of 944.6 g (from 861.8 g to 1.025 kg in our sources) and a wingspan of 90 cm. The northern pintail is a migratory, aquatic herbivore of wetland habitats, with a geographic range of 28,400,000 km². It lays one clutch per year with a clutch size of 7.7, incubation lasts 22.5 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 861.8 g – 1.03 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 90 cm |
| Lifespan | 27 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 27.4 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 22.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 7.7 |
| Age at maturity | 7.88 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Anseriformes
- family: Anatidae
- genus: Anas
- species: *Anas acuta* Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms: *Anas acuta acuta*, *Anas acuta tzitzihoa*, *Anas caudacuta*, *Anas longicauda*, *Dafila acuta*, *Dafila acuta acuta*, *Dafila epilobium*, *Dafila epilobium*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the northern pintail?

The northern pintail is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, part of the family Anatidae and the order Anseriformes.

### How heavy is the northern pintail?

The northern pintail weighs 944.6 g, with values from 861.8 g to 1.025 kg reported by our sources. Its wingspan is 90 cm.

### What does the northern pintail eat?

The northern pintail is a herbivore.

### What habitat does the northern pintail live in?

The northern pintail lives in wetland habitats and has an aquatic lifestyle. It is migratory.

### Is the northern pintail endangered?

No. The northern pintail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the northern pintail live?

The northern pintail has a lifespan of up to 27.42 years according to our sources.

### How many eggs does the northern pintail lay?

The northern pintail has a clutch size of 7.7 and one clutch per year. Incubation lasts 22.5 days, and it reaches sexual maturity at 240 days.

### Who named the northern pintail?

The northern pintail, Anas acuta, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Northern pintail (Anas acuta). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-pintail