Sheathbill

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Sheathbills
Snowy Sheathbill.jpg
Snowy sheathbill (C. albus)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Suborder: Charadrii
Family: Chionidae
Bonaparte, 1832
Genus: Chionis
J.R. Forster, 1788 [1]
Type species
Vaginalis alba
Species

Chionis albus
Chionis minor

The sheathbills are a family of birds, Chionidae. Classified in the wader order Charadriiformes, the family consists of one genus, Chionis with two species. They breed on subantarctic islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, and the snowy sheathbill migrates to the Falkland Islands and coastal southern South America in the southern winter; they are the only bird family endemic as breeders to the Antarctic region. [2] They are also the only Antarctic birds without webbed feet.

Contents

Taxonomy

The genus Chionis was introduced in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster. [3] The type species is the snowy sheathbill. [4] The genus name is from the Ancient Greek khiōn meaning snow. [5]

Description

They have white plumage including a thick layer of down, with only the face and leg colours distinguishing the two species. They look plump and dove-like, but are believed to be similar to the ancestors of the modern gulls and terns. There is a rudimentary spur on the "wrist" (carpal) joint, as in plovers. The skin around the eye is bare, as is the skin above the bill, which has carbuncular swellings. They derive their English name from the horny sheath which partially covers the upper mandible of their stout bills. [2] They are commonly known in the Antarctic as "Mutts" because of their call which is a soft "Mutt, mutt, mutt"

Behaviour

Sheathbills habitually walk on the ground, somewhat like rails. They fly only when alarmed or in migration, looking like pigeons. [2]

Food and feeding

The sheathbills are scavengers and opportunistic feeders, consuming invertebrates, faeces, and carrion—including seal afterbirths and stillborn seal pups—between the tidelines.[ citation needed ] They also take many chicks and eggs from penguins and cormorants.

The bird has also been observed to directly pilfer milk from the elephant seals’ teats. [6]

Breeding

During the penguin breeding season, which is also the sheathbill breeding season, pairs of sheathbills in penguin colonies maintain territories covering a number of penguin nests. Two mated sheathbills often work together to harass adult penguins, nimbly avoiding their attempts to peck; they gain access to the eggs or chicks or steal the krill that the adult penguins regurgitate to feed their chicks. Near the few human settlements of the region, they boldly forage for offal. Because of this diet, they spend a good deal of time cleaning themselves. [2]

They lay two or three blotchy white eggs in crevices or rock cavities. [7] The nests are lined messily with seaweed, stones, feathers, guano, bones, and occasionally plastic trash; even dead chicks may not be removed. Incubation lasts 28 to 32 days, and the young fledge 50 to 60 days later. [2]

Taxonomy

Genetic studies of the order Charadriiformes show the sheathbills to be a sister group of the thick-knees of the family Burhinidae. These two groups together are a sister group to Recurvostridae-Haematopodidae and Charadriidae. [8] Recent research on the Magellanic plover (Pluvianellus socialis) of southern South America has indicated it too may be classified within the sheathbill family. [9] [10] [11]

The two species:

Genus Chionis – J.R. Forster, 1788 – two species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
snowy sheathbill

Chionis blanc - Pale-faced Sheathbill.jpg

Chionis albus
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)		Antarctica, the Scotia Arc, the South Orkneys, and South Georgia
Chionis albus map.svg 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


black-faced sheathbill

Chionis minor a Crozet.jpg

Chionis minor
Hartlaub, 1841		South African territory of the Prince Edward Islands, the French territories of the Crozet Islands and Kerguelen Islands, and the Australian territory of Heard Island.Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 



Related Research Articles

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Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water and eat invertebrates or other small animals; however, some are pelagic (seabirds), others frequent deserts, and a few are found in dense forest. Members of this group can also collectively be referred to as shorebirds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wader</span> Birds of the order Charadriiformes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buttonquail</span> Family of birds

Buttonquail or hemipodes are members of a small family of birds, Turnicidae, which resemble, but are not closely related to, the quails of Phasianidae. They inhabit warm grasslands in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia. There are 18 species in two genera, with most species placed in the genus Turnix and a single species in the genus Ortyxelos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laridae</span> Family of birds

Laridae is a family of seabirds in the order Charadriiformes that includes the gulls, terns, noddies, skimmers, and kittiwakes. It includes around 100 species arranged into 22 genera. They are an adaptable group of mostly aerial birds found worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magellanic plover</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lari (bird)</span> Suborder of birds

The suborder Lari is the part of the order Charadriiformes that includes the gulls, terns, skuas and skimmers; the rest of the order is made up of the waders and snipes. The auks are now placed into the Lari too, following recent research. Sometimes, the buttonquails are also placed here, but the molecular data and fossil record rather suggests they are a quite basal offshoot along with the snipe-like and aberrant waders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gentoo penguin</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">King penguin</span> Species of bird

The king penguin is the second largest species of penguin, smaller, but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. There are two subspecies, A. p. patagonicus and A. p. halli; patagonicus is found in the South Atlantic and halli in the South Indian Ocean and at Macquarie Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macaroni penguin</span> Species of bird

The macaroni penguin is a species of penguin found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested penguin, it is very closely related to the royal penguin, and some authorities consider the two to be a single species. It bears a distinctive yellow crest that resembles macaroni, from which its name is derived. Its face and upperparts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts. Adults weigh on average 5.5 kg (12 lb) and are 70 cm (28 in) in length. The male and female are similar in appearance; the male is slightly larger and stronger with a relatively larger bill. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine lifestyle.

<i>Charadrius</i> Genus of birds

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chionophile</span> Organisms able to thrive in cold winter conditions

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-faced sheathbill</span> Species of bird

The black-faced sheathbill, also known as the lesser sheathbill or paddy bird, is one of only two species of sheathbills, aberrant shorebirds which are terrestrial scavengers of subantarctic islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowy sheathbill</span> Species of bird

The snowy sheathbill, also known as the greater sheathbill, pale-faced sheathbill, and paddy, is one of two species of sheathbill. It is usually found on the ground. It is the only land bird native to the Antarctic continent.

<i>Burhinus</i> Genus of birds

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References

  1. ↑ Enchiridion Historiae Naturali: 37.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Mead, Christopher J.; Richford, Andrew S. (2003). "Sheathbills". In Perrins, Christopher (ed.). The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds . Firefly Books. pp.  256–257. ISBN   1-55297-777-3.
  3. ↑ Forster, Johann Reinhold (1788). Enchiridion historiae naturali inserviens, quo termini et delineationes ad avium, piscium, insectorum et plantarum adumbrationes intelligendas et concinnandas, secundum methodum systematis Linnaeani continentur (in Latin). Halae: Prostat apud Hemmerde et Schwetschke. p. 37.
  4. ↑ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 308.
  5. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 101. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ↑ Sazima. "Cleaner birds: an overview for the Neotropics". Museu de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas. 10 (4).
  7. ↑ Harrison, Colin J.O. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. p. 109. ISBN   1-85391-186-0.
  8. ↑ Christidis and Boles, p. 128
  9. ↑ Christidis and Boles, p. 132
  10. ↑ Paton, Tara A.; Baker, Allan J. (2006). "Sequences from 14 mitochondrial genes provide a well-supported phylogeny of the Charadriiform birds congruent with the nuclear RAG-1 tree". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 39 (3): 657–667. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.011. PMID   16531074.
  11. ↑ Paton, T.A.; Baker, A.J.; Groth, J.G.; Barrowclough, G.F. (2003). "RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within charadriiform birds". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 29: 268–278. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8. PMID   13678682.
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