Bird
Northern Pintail
Anas acuta
A winter visitor to Alabama, found in all 67 counties and 9 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 9

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 9
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Alabama 9
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)




Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Other habitats in its models (39)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (19)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Winter, only within 500 m of water.
Northeast (2)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
Land cover and other classes (18)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Burned Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Burned Forest Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Burned Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Recently Logged Areas Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in Alabama
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 13 of 67 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 66 of 67 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 246
- American Halfchaff SedgeCyperus neotropicalis
- Cyperus articulatusCyperus articulatus
- Cyperus cuspidatusCyperus cuspidatus
- Cyperus distinctusCyperus distinctus
- Cyperus drummondiiCyperus drummondii
- Cyperus lanceolatusCyperus lanceolatus
- Cyperus ochraceusCyperus ochraceus
- Cyperus thyrsiflorusCyperus thyrsiflorus
- Inflated Scale FlatsedgeCyperus aggregatus
- Low SpikesedgeCyperus hortensis
- Royal FlatsedgeCyperus elegans
- Smallflower Halfchaff SedgeCyperus subsquarrosus
- Umbrella Flat SedgeCyperus diandrus
- Pine-barren FlatsedgeCyperus retrorsus
- Baldwins Flat SedgeCyperus croceus
- Bearded FlatsedgeCyperus squarrosus
- Bristly FlatsedgeCyperus hystricinus
- Cyperus filicinusCyperus filicinus
- Fragrant FlatsedgeCyperus odoratus
- Fragrant SpikesedgeCyperus sesquiflorus
- Globe FlatsedgeCyperus echinatus
- Granite FlatsedgeCyperus granitophilus
- Gray's FlatsedgeCyperus grayi
- Green FlatsedgeCyperus virens
Plant genera in its diet records (13)
- Oryza Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Alabama
- Cyperus Seeds. 2 diet records. 44 native plants in Alabama
- Heteranthera Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Alabama
- Najas Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Alabama
- Schoenoplectus Seeds. 2 diet records. 8 native plants in Alabama
- Ammannia Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Alabama
- Carex Seeds. 1 diet record. 140 native plants in Alabama
- Hippuris Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
- Juncus Seeds. 1 diet record. 32 native plants in Alabama
- Musa Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
- Polygonum Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Alabama
- Potamogeton Roots. 1 diet record. 10 native plants in Alabama
- Zannichellia Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Alabama
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 114
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Rufous HummingbirdSelasphorus rufus
- Western MeadowlarkSturnella neglecta
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
Plants 1485
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Dwarf HorseweedErigeron divaricatus
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Whitestar Morning-gloryIpomoea leucantha
- Common HorseweedErigeron canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 118
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Red KnotCalidris canutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Plants 134
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Railroad VineIpomoea brasiliensis
- Cruise's GoldenasterChrysopsis cruiseana
- Godfrey's Golden AsterChrysopsis godfreyi
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Agalinis harperiAgalinis harperi
- Panicum amarum var. amarumPanicum amarum var. amarum
- Largeleaf PennywortHydrocotyle bonariensis
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Pinewoods FingergrassEustachys petraea
- Gulf Coast Sea RocketCakile constricta
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 144
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Rufous HummingbirdSelasphorus rufus
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Buff-bellied HummingbirdAmazilia yucatanensis
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
Plants 38
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- White WillowSalix alba
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodSesbania vesicaria
- Cyperus ochraceusCyperus ochraceus
- Tropical FlatsedgeCyperus surinamensis
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Indian JointvetchAeschynomene indica
- Reimar GrassPaspalum eglume
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- ChaffweedCentunculus minimus
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Northern Pintail
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus





















































