One of the 10 pigeons on WAnimals
Birds · Charadriiformes · Chionidae
Snowy Sheathbill
Chionis albus
Least Concern
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.
The snowy sheathbill is a charadriiform bird of the family Chionidae. It is a scavenging bird that lives in the subantarctic regions of South America and on the Antarctic Peninsula. Although in Spanish they are called doves for their general appearance and their manner of flight, they in fact belong not to the family Columbidae but to the family Chionidae, a group made up of only two members: those living in the Antarctic sector below South America, and those living in the Antarctic sector below the Indian Ocean.
Weight
460 g – 780 g
Size
34 cm – 41 cm
Life expectancy
15 years
