Pintail (Northern Pintail)
Anas acuta
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Distribution Britain 85 (-1.2%) Ireland 9 (-25.0%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 33 RBBP Ireland <1 European status: 28,000 (0% in Britain and Ireland) British population trend: possibly stable How likely are you to record it? 3 squares (0.1%) Ranked 171= |
This fine duck has very precise habitat requirements and is now, at best, a sporadic breeder over most of our area. This is an improvement on 100 years ago when Loch Leven (Kinross) was the only regular site. Now Orkney, Tiree (Argyll) and the washlands of the Fens have established populations and there are scattered records in all four nations. Some of these birds may have originated from feral populations and deliberate introductions. Prospects not particularly good — or bad!
Fox, A.D. & Meek, E.R. 1993 British Birds: 86, 151-163.
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead