The snowy sheathbill does not have webbed feet. A snowy sheathbill is about long, with a wingspan of . Both the shag and the sheathbill are endemic to Heard Island. The two species are the snowy sheathbill ("Chionis albus") and the black-faced sheathbill ("C. minor"). The snowy sheathbill lives in Antarctica, the Scotia Arc, the South Orkneys, and South Georgia. Sheathbill Bay was named by UK-APC for the snowy sheathbills that live in the bay.