The Northern Pintail is a large and very elegant duck. The male in breeding season is quite beautiful with its chocolate head and white breast. The female is quite a bit smaller than the male and has less distinctive plumage.

A frequent winter visitor to the Bay Area, Northern Pintails feed on plants by dabbling and upending themselves in shallow water. Besides aquatic plants, Northern Pintails will also consume seeds in fields, invertebrate animals, aquatic insects, molluscs and crustaceans.