CreatureData

Snowy sheathbill

Chionis albus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus) is a species in the family Chionidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 636.5 g to 725 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus)
Photo: Gordon Leggett · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the snowy sheathbill

Weight
636.5 g – 725 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
71 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
30 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.44src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the snowy sheathbill?

SNOWY SHEATHBILL · WINGSPAN 71 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 71 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the snowy sheathbill is about 42% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the snowy sheathbill live?

Not recorded

What is the snowy sheathbill?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus), 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.

From the Wikipedia article “Snowy sheathbill” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snowy_sheathbill&oldid=1344134849), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the snowy sheathbill endangered?

The snowy sheathbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the snowy sheathbill classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyChionidae
  6. genusChionis
  7. SpeciesChionis albus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

Synonyms Chionis alba, Chionis alba, Chionis alba, Chionis alba, Chionis alba, Chionis necrophagus, Coleoramphus nivalis, Coleramphus nivalis, Vaginalis alba, Vaginalis australis, Vaginalis chionis

Other names and names in other languages (45)
  • American sheathbillEnglish
  • Greater sheathbillEnglish
  • Pale-faced sheathbillEnglish
  • GrootskedebekAfrikaans
  • غمدي المنقار الثلجيArabic
  • Ağ çovdarçıAzerbaijani
  • colom antàrtic becgrocCatalan
  • Colom antàrtic de bec grocCatalan
  • štítonos světlezobýCzech
  • gweinbig gwynWelsh
  • Gulnæbbet SkedenæbDanish
  • WeißgesichtscheidenschnabelGerman
  • Weißgesicht-ScheidenschnabelGerman
  • Blanka ĥionidoEsperanto
  • blankmaska kionoEsperanto
  • Picovaina nivalSpanish
  • Paloma antárticaSpanish
  • Picovaina de las MalvinasSpanish
  • lääne-tuppnokkEstonian
  • keltatuppinokkaFinnish
  • Chionis blancFrench
  • כיאוניס לבןHebrew
  • bjelolica uzdašicaCroatian
  • falklandi tokoscsőrűHungarian
  • Chione niveoItalian
  • Chione biancoItalian
  • サヤハシチドリJapanese
  • რედაქტირება ყვითელნისკარტიანიGeorgian
  • 깍지부리물떼새Korean
  • baltasis makščiasnapisLithuanian
  • zuidpoolkipDutch
  • antarktisslirenebbNorwegian
  • pochwodziób żółtodziobyPolish
  • pomba-antárticaPortuguese
  • bico-de-bainha-antárcticoPortuguese
  • pomba-antártica-brancaPortuguese
  • Белая ржанкаRussian
  • belák snežnýSlovak
  • Snežni kanijašSerbian
  • gulnäbbad slidnäbbSwedish
  • Ak KıngagaTurkish
  • Büyük kıngagaTurkish
  • сніжниця жовтодзьобаUkrainian
  • 白鞘嘴鷗Chinese
  • 白鞘嘴鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the snowy sheathbill

Other species in the same genus Chionis.

CompareSnowy sheathbill vs Black-faced sheathbill

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the snowy sheathbill?

An adult snowy sheathbill weighs 636.5 g – 725 g and has a wingspan of 71 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the snowy sheathbill endangered?

The snowy sheathbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the snowy sheathbill?

The snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus) belongs to the family Chionidae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/snowy-sheathbill

MLA

“Snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/snowy-sheathbill.

BibTeX
@misc{snowy_sheathbill_2026,
  title = {Snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/snowy-sheathbill},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}