Northern Pintail: Skeletal System

Northern Pintail Research Paper Fall 2015

Jacob A. Keller

South Gibson County

Northern Pintail Research Paper Fall 2015

The Northern Pintail or Anas acuta as its scientific name states is a dabbling North American waterfowl. The duck is known as one of the most graceful of all the fowl in the Western Hemisphere. This paper shall dive, or rather dabble into the life sustaining habits and delicate structures of the Northern Pintail.

Skeletal System. The skeletal system of the Northern Pintail has many advantages over some of the dabbling ducks the Pintail co-exist with. The bird has hollow bones all over its body to reduce weight, in return helping with flight. On the note of flight, the hinged wing bones are some of the least dense bones

The Pintails heart is like a mammals consisting of four chambers, two ventricles and two atria. The left ventricle pumps blood to all major organs in the body and throughout the rest, only excluding the lungs. This causes the left ventricle to be larger and more muscular. The lungs are fed blood from the right ventricle, which is the only the only function of that ventricle. The oxygenated blood coming from the lungs is fully separated from the oxygenated blood coming from other parts of the body.

The Pintail has a rather complex system in which the blood is distributed. There are many arteries that allow the bird to live and operate under the extreme conditions it can be exposed to. The Carotid artery takes the blood to the head and brain region of the body. Another artery in the body is the Brachial which supplies blood to the wings. In the same regions of the body of the bird, there is the Pectoral artery. This artery provides blood to the flight muscles in the duck and allows the bird to take flight. One the main parts in the Circulatory System is the Systemic Arch, which can also be called the Aorta. The Aorta does not send blood into the bird’s lungs, but pumps blood into all other areas of the body. One of the other major arteries in the body is the Pulmonary Artery. This is the artery that transfers blood to the lungs. The last major artery in the duck, is the Femoral which transfers blood to the legs and thighs which are used as transportation for

When the duck eats it goes to the shallow end of a body of water and tips its head under water to eat. They can also be found dry feeding in large numbers in agriculture fields that have food available. If the birds are dry feeding it is typical for them to head back to water to help digest the food which has been