City Sprig

Never have I been so close to Northern Pintails as in Tucson’s Reid Park. Mid-February–just about the time the first birds are arriving on their Great Plains staging grounds–seems to be the best season for them, and drakes and a few hens can show up on the smallest, most urban ponds, where they quickly adopt the tameness of the American Wigeon and other wintering waterfowl.

This holarctic species has a well-deserved reputation for elegance, but that’s not a euphemism for plainness. The close looks to be had on park ponds and sewage impoundments this time of year are a great reminder of how colorful this bird truly is.

Look at those orange tips on the greater coverts, the iridescence of the speculum, the painted-on blue of the bill, and above all that strange and beautiful bronzy cheek. Irresistible, I’m sure, when they shoot whistling through the air above half-frozen prairie potholes in a couple of weeks!