Bird
Northern Pintail
Anas acuta
A winter visitor to Louisiana, found in all 64 parishes and 9 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 64 parishes
- Habitats
- 9

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 64 parishes
- Habitats
- 9
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Louisiana 9
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
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.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
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 Louisiana. Those recorded in Louisiana 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.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal 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.
- 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 Louisiana
- Winter: does not nest here, in all 64 parishes.
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 167
- Cryptic FlatsedgeCyperus cephalanthus
- Cyperus digitatusCyperus digitatus
- Cyperus distinctusCyperus distinctus
- Cyperus ochraceusCyperus ochraceus
- Mohlenbrock's Umbrella-sedgeCyperus grayoides
- Pine-barren FlatsedgeCyperus retrorsus
- Baldwins Flat SedgeCyperus croceus
- Bearded FlatsedgeCyperus squarrosus
- Bristly FlatsedgeCyperus hystricinus
- Cyperus filicinusCyperus filicinus
- Cyperus polystachyos var. texensisCyperus polystachyos var. texensis
- Cyperus retrorsus var. retrorsusCyperus retrorsus var. retrorsus
- Fragrant FlatsedgeCyperus odoratus
- Globe FlatsedgeCyperus echinatus
- Green FlatsedgeCyperus virens
- Le Conte's FlatsedgeCyperus lecontei
- Many-spike FlatsedgeCyperus polystachyos
- Manyflower FlatsedgeCyperus lancastriensis
- Marsh FlatsedgeCyperus pseudovegetus
- Ovateleaf FlatsedgeCyperus ovatus
- Plukenet's FlatsedgeCyperus plukenetii
- Poorland FlatsedgeCyperus compressus
- Redroot FlatsedgeCyperus erythrorhizos
- Reflexed FlatsedgeCyperus refractus
Plant genera in its diet records (13)
- Oryza Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Louisiana
- Cyperus Seeds. 2 diet records. 32 native plants in Louisiana
- Heteranthera Seeds. 2 diet records. 4 native plants in Louisiana
- Najas Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Louisiana
- Schoenoplectus Seeds. 2 diet records. 6 native plants in Louisiana
- Ammannia Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Louisiana
- Carex Seeds. 1 diet record. 84 native plants in Louisiana
- Hippuris Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Louisiana
- Juncus Seeds. 1 diet record. 28 native plants in Louisiana
- Musa Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Louisiana
- Polygonum Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Louisiana
- Potamogeton Roots. 1 diet record. 7 native plants in Louisiana
- Zannichellia Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Louisiana
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Louisiana, 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 153
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Greater RoadrunnerGeococcyx californianus
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Inca DoveColumbina inca
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Western Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia hypugaea
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
Plants 958
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Golden CrownbeardVerbesina encelioides
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
- Gray Ground-cherryPhysalis grisea
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 139
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Sooty TernOnychoprion fuscatus
- Black RailLaterallus jamaicensis
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Red KnotCalidris canutus
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
Plants 84
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Pinewoods FingergrassEustachys petraea
- Sea OatsUniola paniculata
- Beach Evening-primroseOenothera drummondii
- Saltwater False-willowBaccharis angustifolia
- Gulf CrotonCroton punctatus
- CamphorweedHeterotheca subaxillaris
- Cottony Golden-asterChrysopsis gossypina
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 179
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Black-chinned HummingbirdArchilochus alexandri
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- Black RailLaterallus jamaicensis
- Chestnut-sided WarblerDendroica pensylvanica
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Rufous HummingbirdSelasphorus rufus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Plants 20
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodGlottidium vesicarium
- Tropical FlatsedgeCyperus surinamensis
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- Ditch FimbryFimbristylis schoenoides
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






























































