The black-faced sheathbill (''Chionis minor''), also known as the lesser sheathbill or paddy bird, is one of only two species of

sheathbill 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 sheath ...

s, aberrant

shorebird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s which are terrestrial scavengers of subantarctic islands.

Description

They are dumpy, short-necked, pigeon-like birds with white plumage, black bills, caruncles and facial skin. This species measures in length, in wingspan and weighs , with males being slightly larger than females.''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), .

Distribution

Restricted to subantarctic islands in the southern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

: the South African territory of the

Prince Edward Islands The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...

, the French territories of the Crozet Islands and Kerguelen Islands, and the Australian territory of

Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size ...

. The race ''C. m. nasicornis'' is endemic to Heard Island, while the race ''C. m. marionesis'' is endemic to the

Habitat

Coastlines and intertidal zones of subantarctic islands, especially around

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

and

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

colonies, as well as the vicinity of human habitation.

Food

Sheathbills are opportunistic omnivores,

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

s and scavengers, feeding on strandline debris, algae and other vegetation, as well as on

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

, seabird eggs and chicks, seal milk, blood,

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mate ...

s, carrion,

faeces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...

, rodents and human refuse.

Voice

Loud, high-pitched, strident and staccato calls.

Breeding

Nests in crevices, caves and under boulders on untidy piles of vegetation and debris from seabird and seal colonies. Clutch usually 2–3 creamy-white eggs, blotched or speckled brown. Incubation period c.30 days. Young semi-precocial and nidicolous; fledging c.50 days after hatching; breeding at 3–5 years.

Conservation

At risk from scavenging

toxic waste Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm (e.g. by being inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin). Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemi ...

s and from introduced predators such as feral

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s, but large, scattered range with no evidence of significant overall population decline leads to conservation status assessment of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

* BirdLife International. (2006). Species factsheet: ''Chionis minor''. Downloaded from https://www.webcitation.org/5QE8rvIqH?url=http://www.birdlife.org/ on 11 February 2007 * Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J.; & Davies, J.N. (eds). (1994). ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 2: Raptors to Lapwings''. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. *

National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife was founded as a project of the Australian Museum on 3 June 1969 (as the National Photographic Index of Australian Birds) to compile a comprehensive collection of photographs of Australian bir ...

. (1987). ''The Shorebirds of Australia''. Angus & Robertson: Sydney. {{Taxonbar, from=Q303019 black-faced sheathbill Fauna of the Crozet Islands Fauna of the Prince Edward Islands Fauna of the Kerguelen Islands Fauna of Heard Island and McDonald Islands Birds of the Indian Ocean Birds of subantarctic islands black-faced sheathbill Taxa named by Gustav Hartlaub