Birds Guide

Ibisbill Conservation status Least concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Ibidorhynchidae Bonaparte, 1856 Genus: Ibidorhyncha   Species: I. struthersii
Binomial name
Ibidorhyncha struthersii (Vigors, 1832)

The Ibisbill (Ibidorhyncha struthersii) is a bird related to the waders, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family Ibidorhynchidae.

It lives on the shingle riverbanks of the high plateau of central Asia and the Himalayas.

This bird is quite unmistakable. The adult is grey with a white belly, red legs and long down curved bill, and a black face and black breast band. The young birds lack the black on the face and breast, and the bill is duller. The legs are bright red in the breeding adults and dull sepia in juveniles. In spite of its spectacular appearance it is inconspicuous in its stony environment.

They feed by probing under rocks or gravel on stream beds. ^[1]

The call is a ringing Klew-klew similar to that of a Greenshank.

It lays four eggs in a scrape on the ground.

The taxonomy position of the family is still unclear. It may be related to both the oystercatchers and the avocets. For an alternative classification of the Charadriiformes.

References

1. ^ Marchant, J., Prater, T. and P. Hayman (1986) Shorebirds: an identification guide to the waders of the world. Christopher Helm.

• BirdLife International (2004). Ibidorhyncha struthersii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

• Ibisbill videos on the Internet Bird Collection