Nature Walk: Pintails in Flight

By Kerri Sorrell on April 8, 2013 in Blog


The challenge of watching ducks in flight is keeping up with the action. Dabbling ducks such as mallards, shovelers, blue-winged teal or these pintails take off vertically. Once airborne they often fly as a group, sticking together since there is safety in numbers. They will rapidly gain altitude if departing on a long flight, but if it is a short trip across the marsh, they will likely stay low and quickly drop out of sight behind emergent vegetation.

The challenge of watching ducks in flight is keeping up with the action. Dabbling ducks such as mallards, shovelers, blue-winged teal or these pintails take off vertically. Once airborne they often fly as a group, sticking together since there is safety in numbers. They will rapidly gain altitude if departing on a long flight, but if it is a short trip across the marsh, they will likely stay low and quickly drop out of sight behind emergent vegetation.

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