Yellow-billed Pintail

The Yellow-billed Pintail, Anas georgica, is a South American dabbling duck with a distinctive yellow bill adorned with a black tip and a central black stripe. Its head and neck are cloaked in brown, while the body is a buffish brown peppered with black spots. The tail is pointed and carries a brownish hue, and the upper wing is a muted grayish-brown with secondaries of a blackish-green sheen.

Identification Tips

To distinguish the Yellow-billed Pintail from its close relative, the Yellow-billed Teal, one should note the pintail's larger size, the unique yellow stripes on its bill, and its solitary nature or tendency to be seen in smaller groups. The nominate subspecies is notably smaller and darker than its relative, Anas g. spinicauda.

Habitat

This species is found in a variety of wetland habitats, ranging from high-elevation lakes and marshes to the more accessible lakes, rivers, and coastal areas in open country.

Distribution

The Yellow-billed Pintail graces much of South America, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia. The smallest subspecies, the South Georgia pintail (A. g. georgica), is endemic to South Georgia. The Chilean pintail (A. g. spinicauda) is widespread across the South American mainland, from southern Colombia to southern Argentina and Chile, including the Falkland Islands. The third subspecies, Niceforo's pintail (A. g. niceforoi), once found in central Colombia, is now sadly extinct.

Breeding

The breeding ritual involves constructing a nest on the ground, well-concealed by vegetation and near water. The nest is a simple affair, lined with grass and down. Clutches typically consist of 4 to 10 eggs, which after approximately 26 days of incubation, give rise to chicks with dark brown down above and a yellowish down below.

Physiology

Intriguingly, high-altitude populations of the Yellow-billed Pintail have evolved hemoglobin with a higher affinity for oxygen, a trait attributable to genetic adaptations in their beta-globin gene. This adaptation is shared with the Speckled Teal due to past hybridization events. Gene flow studies suggest that pintails with heterozygous βA hemoglobin subunits may acclimate to high altitudes more efficiently than those without this genetic variation.

Conservation status

The IUCN Red List currently classifies the Yellow-billed Pintail as Least Concern, indicating a stable population without immediate threats to its survival.