The Ibisbill or Ibidorhyncha struthersii, a fowl related to the wader birds is quite a distinct bird that merits the Ibidorhynchidae family. The bird can be found within high plateaus in parts of central Asia such as the Himalayas.

Ibisbill is 38-41cm or 15-16 inches in length and is very conspicuous in terms of its appearance. Ibisbill mature adults are usually grey but have red legs and white belly as well as a very long curved bill towards the ground. The face is black while the breast band is also black. Both female and male are largely similar. Although the younger Ibisbills don’t have the black hue on their face or the breast, while the bill is dull. Their legs are largely red which is quite bright among the breeding mature adults while the hue is dull sepia among the young. Despite having this spectacular outlook, it is a very inconspicuous bird within its stony surrounding. They make calls that are resoundingly Klew-Klew, which are similar to Greenshank’s.

Habitat

In terms of range and habitat, the birds are known to breed along the Himalayan areas as well as within the Tibetan plateaus, breeding on stony riverbeds. Its geographical range is aptly from Central Asia in Kazakhstan area towards Northwestern China and India respectively. In addition, taxonomist has elevated the bird to a monotypic family of its own. This has however come within the background of the general agreement that it is a bird that is quite unique in terms of habits and appearance, while these have also made it to be seen as distantly related to the avocets, stilts and oystercatchers. In fact the younger Idisbills and territorial nature of behavior have been discovered to be so much related to those of the oystercatcher.

Breeding

The bird is largely a breeder of a monogamous type. Its nest is however located along a river peninsula, island or bank, and not a large one but just a scrape within the ground, something that is sometimes lined with minute stones and pebbles. Ibisbills lays their eggs by the end of April as well as the beginning of the fifth month, while the weather does make the timing to vary. The size of the clutch varies from about 2-4 eggs oval in shape. The eggs incubation period is unknown however, although it is known that the parents share all the duties pertaining to incubation.

Feeding

Ibisbills feed through probing below gravel or rocks as well as along stream beds. The birds’ favorite prey includes such invertebrates as mayfly and caddishly larvae that hide below streams boulders.

Conservation

The range of the birds is extremely large, something that is estimated to be about 5 million km or 1.9 million square miles, and they are not believed to be under any threat of decline or even fragmentation. As much as Idisbills’ population is still an enigma, it is not declining. This has made this bird species to be evaluated as of a least concern in terms of conservation.