Eaton's pintail is a dabbling duck of the genus Anas. It is also known as the southern pintail. The species is restricted to the island groups of Kerguelen and Crozet in the southern Indian Ocean. It resembles a small female northern pintail. It was named after the English explorer and naturalist Alfred Edwin Eaton. It is threatened by introduced species, particularly feral cats, which prey on it, particularly during the post-breeding molt, when it is unable to fly.
Eaton's pintail
With ducklings, illustration by Keulemans, 1895
The Crozet Islands are a sub-Antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
One of the Crozet Islands
The Marion Dufresne off the "port" of Crozet. East Island in the background.
One of the penguin colonies of the islands
The Eastern Group as seen from outer space in December 1998.