Ibisbill

The ibisbill is related to the waders but distinctive enough to have its own family. It is unmistakable, 38–41 cm long and 270–320 g: grey with a white belly, red legs, a black face and black breast band, and a long, crimson, down-curved bill 6.8–8.2 cm long, slightly longer in females, like that of the unrelated ibis. Young birds lack the black on the face and breast and have a duller bill (Wikipedia, general species account).

It occurs on the shingle riverbanks of the high plateaus of Central Asia and the Himalaya, from Lake Issyk-Kul to the southern border of Manchuria, and outside the breeding season may descend as low as 100 m. It must live near slow-flowing water to feed, which limits its habitat despite a large range. The call is a ringing klew-klew like a greenshank's. SoIB 2023 rates it a Moderate conservation priority, a local migrant of wetland with a Restricted range of about 19,400 km² (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).