Black-faced Sheathbill (Chionis minor) - BirdLife species factsheet

Black-faced Sheathbill Chionis minor

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	809,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	8700-13000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	8.5 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The population is estimated to number 13,000-20,000 individuals, roughly equating to 8,700-13,000 mature individuals. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to predation by invasive species (del Hoyo et al. 1996).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be in decline owing to predation by invasive species (del Hoyo et al. 1996).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident
French Southern Territories	extant	native	yes
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (to Australia)	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (to Australia)	Heard and McDonald Islands
South Africa	Prince Edward Islands Special Nature Reserve

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	major	resident
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	major	resident
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	major	resident
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	major	resident
Marine Intertidal	Tidepools	major	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-faced Sheathbill Chionis minor. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-faced-sheathbill-chionis-minor on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.