sheathbill

sheathbill
/sheeth"bil'/, n.
either of two white sea birds, Chionis alba or C. minor, of the colder parts of the Southern Hemisphere: so called from the horny sheath covering the base of the upper bill.
[1775-85; SHEATH + BILL2]

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bird
Sy Montgomery
 either of two species of white stout-billed Antarctic shorebirds (shorebird) making up genus Chionis (order Charadriiformes (charadriiform)), the only bird family confined to south polar regions. It is named for the rough, horny sheath around the base of its bill shielding its nostrils. The short, stout bill has pimply skin at the base; the eyes are pink rimmed; and the short, thick legs and unwebbed feet are blue gray. Sheathbills combine the habits of gulls (gull) and shorebirds, to which they are related. Living around the borders of the Antarctic, they are the only birds there without webbed feet.

      Sheathbills may be seen at sea hundreds of miles from land but are usually encountered in small parties along shore. When not persecuted, they become tame and inquisitive, walking among expedition camps like chickens (chicken). The sheathbill is an aggressive predator on the eggs (egg) and the young of penguins (penguin), petrels (petrel), and terns (tern); it also scavenges the feces and afterbirths of seals (seal) and the offal around whaling stations. Outside the breeding season, sheathbills eat intertidal creatures and algae. Sociable, though sometimes quarrelsome, birds, they bow to one another in courtship and—when quarreling—fight with sharp shin spurs. Two or three off-white eggs are laid in December in an untidy nest of litter hidden in a rock crevice. Usually only one chick survives. The young take up to nine weeks to fledge. The pure-white snowy sheathbill (C. alba), 40 cm (16 inches) long, has a yellow bill. The lesser sheathbill (C. minor) is black-billed and is about 38 cm (15 inches) long.

Sy Montgomery
 

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • sheathbill — [shēth′bil΄] n. any of a family (Chionidae) of white plumed antarctic shorebirds distinguished by a horny, saddlelike sheath at the base of the upper bill …   English World dictionary

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  • Sheathbill Bay — (coord|53|59|S|37|26|W|) is a small bay just north of Rosita Harbor (the features being separated by a small cove) along the north coast of South Georgia. So named by United Kingdom Antarctic Place Names Committee (UK APC) because the bay is… …   Wikipedia

  • sheathbill — noun Date: circa 1781 either of two white shorebirds (Chionis alba and C. minor of the family Chionididae) of colder parts of the southern hemisphere that have a horny sheath over the base of the upper mandible and suggest the pigeons in general… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • sheathbill — noun /ˈʃiːɵ.bɪl/lang=en Either of two species of scavenging birds in the family Chionididae which breed only on the Antarctic Peninsula and subantarctic islands …   Wiktionary

  • sheathbill — noun a mainly white pigeon like bird of subantarctic islands, with a horny sheath around the base of the bill. [Genus Chionis.] …   English new terms dictionary

  • sheathbill — sheath•bill [[t]ˈʃiθˌbɪl[/t]] n. orn either of two white, pigeonlike shorebirds, Chionis alba or C. minor, of the Antarctic, having a horny sheath covering the base of the short bill • Etymology: 1775–85 …   From formal English to slang

  • sheathbill — /ˈʃiθbɪl/ (say sheethbil) noun either of two seabirds with white plumage, Chionis alba and C. minor, of the colder parts of the Southern Hemisphere, so called from the horny case which partly sheathes the bill. {sheath + bill2} …  

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