Pintail

The whistling of the pintails to me is synonymous with winter here. So elegant, slim and beautiful to watch with their long tail feathers tapering from an incredibly prettily patterned body and chocolate covered head. 

They fly rapidly particularly when disturbed and tend not to breed on the same site which makes their numbers difficult to assess. The male guards the nest during incubation and they fly with legs dangling as though in distress as a distraction to predators.