The birds of Christmas Island form a heterogeneous group of 162 species. There is a core group of four endemics that evolved on the remote island in the eastern Indian Ocean for thousands of years; there are also regular migrants, opportunists and occasional visitors. Christmas Island was not occupied by humans until the late 19th century and is some 200 km from the nearest land, Java. It is now an Australian territory. The natural vegetation of most of the 140 km2 island is rainforest, to which the endemic landbirds are adapted, while the seabirds have taken advantage of a breeding location which had no major natural predators.
This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) follow the conventions of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 2022 edition. The family accounts at the beginning of each heading reflect this taxonomy, as do the species counts in each family account. Introduced and accidental species are included in the total counts for Christmas Island.
After over a century of human exploitation of the phosphate deposits covering much of the island, two thirds of the rainforest cover remains and is now protected as a national park. However, gaps where the forest has been cleared, and the introduction of exotic fauna, continue to destabilise the island's biological diversity. The endemic Abbott's booby is threatened when nesting by wind turbulence caused by past forest clearance. However, the biggest immediate threat is the introduction and spread of yellow crazy ants, through both direct predation and ecosystem collapse. This has led to all the island's endemic bird species and subspecies being classified as Critically Endangered.
Meanwhile, the number of species recorded from Christmas Island continues to increase as birders, especially from Australia, attracted by the island's endemics, record a variety of vagrants previously unnoticed. Some of these may in time, as with the white-breasted waterhen, establish breeding populations. Christmas Island is now seen as a birding 'hot spot', not only for its endemics but also for the chance of recording new species for the Australian bird list, something reflected in the frequency of submissions of sightings to the Birds Australia Rarities Committee.
The following tags have been used to highlight several categories. The commonly occurring native species do not fall into any of these categories.
(A) Accidental - a species that rarely or accidentally occurs in Christmas Island (I) Introduced - a species introduced to Christmas Island as a consequence, direct or indirect, of human actions (E) Endemic - a species that is native only to Christmas Island
Ducks, geese, and waterfowl Order: AnseriformesFamily: Anatidae
Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to an oily coating.
Garganey, Spatula querquedula (A) Pacific black duck, Anas superciliosa Gray teal, Anas gracilis Hardhead, Aythya australis (A)
Pheasants, grouse, and allies Order: GalliformesFamily: Phasianidae
The Phasianidae are a family of terrestrial birds. In general, they are plump (although they vary in size) and have broad, relatively short wings.
Red junglefowl, Gallus gallus (I)
Flamingos Order: PhoenicopteriformesFamily: Phoenicopteridae
Flamingos are gregarious wading birds, usually tall, found in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Flamingos filter-feed on shellfish and algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside-down.
Greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus (A)
Pigeons and doves Order: ColumbiformesFamily: Columbidae
Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere.
Rock pigeon, Columba livia Red collared-dove, Streptopelia tranquebarica Asian emerald dove, Chalcophaps indica Pacific emerald dove, Chalcophaps longirostris Christmas Island imperial-pigeon, Ducula whartoni (E) Torresian imperial-pigeon, Ducula spilorrhoa
Cuckoos Order: CuculiformesFamily: Cuculidae
The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. The Old World cuckoos are brood parasites.
Asian koel, Eudynamys scolopaceus (A) Pacific koel, Eudynamys orientalis Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo, Chrysococcyx basalis (A) Black-eared cuckoo, Chrysococcyx osculans (A) Pallid cuckoo, Cacomantis pallidus (A) Large hawk-cuckoo, Hierococcyx sparverioides (A) Oriental cuckoo, Cuculus saturatus (A)
Nightjars and allies Order: CaprimulgiformesFamily: Caprimulgidae
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is camouflaged to resemble bark or leaves.
Gray nightjar, Caprimulgus jotaka (A) Savanna nightjar, Caprimulgus affinis (A)
Swifts Order: CaprimulgiformesFamily: Apodidae
Swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang.
White-throated needletail, Hirundapus caudacutus (A) Christmas Island swiftlet, Collocalia natalis (E) Mossy-nest swiftlet, Aerodramus salangana (A) Pacific swift, Apus pacificus House swift, Apus nipalensis (A)
Rails, gallinules, and coots Order: GruiformesFamily: Rallidae
Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots and gallinules. Typically they inhabit dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps or rivers. In general they are shy and secretive birds, making them difficult to observe. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to have short, rounded wings and to be weak fliers.
Black-tailed nativehen, Tribonyx ventralis (A) Eurasian coot, Fulica atra (A) Watercock, Gallicrex cinerea (A) White-breasted waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus Ruddy-breasted crake, Zapornia fusca (A) Baillon's crake, Zapornia pusilla (A)
Stilts and avocets Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Recurvirostridae
Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds, which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills. The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.
Pied stilt, Himantopus leucocephalus (A)
Oystercatchers Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Haematopodidae
The oystercatchers are large and noisy plover-like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.
Sooty oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus (A)
Plovers and lapwings Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Charadriidae
The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings. They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water.
Black-bellied plover, Pluvialis squatarola (A) Pacific golden-plover, Pluvialis fulva Masked lapwing, Vanellus miles (A) Lesser sand-plover, Charadrius mongolus (A) Greater sand-plover, Charadrius leschenaultii (A) Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus (A) Little ringed plover, Charadrius dubius (A) Oriental plover, Charadrius veredus (A)
Sandpipers and allies Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Scolopacidae
Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Variation in length of legs and bills enables multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.
Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus (A) Little curlew, Numenius minutus (A) Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica (A) Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres Great knot, Calidris tenuirostris (A) Sharp-tailed sandpiper, Calidris acuminata (A) Curlew sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea (A) Long-toed stint, Calidris subminuta (A) Red-necked stint, Calidris ruficollis (A) Sanderling, Calidris alba (A) Pectoral sandpiper, Calidris melanotos Pin-tailed snipe, Gallinago stenura (A) Swinhoe's snipe, Gallinago megala (A) Terek sandpiper, Xenus cinereus (A) Red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus (A) Common sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos Gray-tailed tattler, Tringa brevipes (A) Common greenshank, Tringa nebularia (A) Marsh sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis (A) Wood sandpiper, Tringa glareola (A) Common redshank, Tringa totanus (A)
Pratincoles and coursers Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Glareolidae
Glareolidae is a family of wading birds comprising the pratincoles, which have short legs, long pointed wings and long forked tails, and the coursers, which have long legs, short wings and long, pointed bills which curve downwards.
Australian pratincole, Stiltia isabella (A) Oriental pratincole, Glareola maldivarum (A)
Skuas and jaegers Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Stercorariidae
The family Stercorariidae are, in general, medium to large birds, typically with grey or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They nest on the ground in temperate and arctic regions and are long-distance migrants.
Brown skua, Stercorarius antarcticus (A) Parasitic jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus (A)
Gulls, terns, and skimmers Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Laridae
Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds, the gulls, terns and skimmers. Gulls are typically grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years.
Common gull, Larus canus (A) Brown noddy, Anous stolidus Lesser noddy, Anous tenuirostris (A) White tern, Gygis alba Sooty tern, Onychoprion fuscatus (A) Bridled tern, Onychoprion anaethetus (A) Little tern, Sternula albifrons (A) Gull-billed tern, Gelochelidon nilotica (A) White-winged tern, Chlidonias leucopterus (A) Whiskered tern, Chlidonias hybrida (A) Common tern, Sterna hirundo (A) Great crested tern, Thalasseus bergii (A) Lesser crested tern, Thalasseus bengalensis (A)
Tropicbirds Order: PhaethontiformesFamily: Phaethontidae
Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans, with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their heads and long wings have black markings.
White-tailed tropicbird, Phaethon lepturus Red-tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda
Southern storm-petrels Order: ProcellariiformesFamily: Oceanitidae
The southern storm-petrels are relatives of the petrels and are the smallest seabirds. They feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like.
Wilson's storm-petrel, Oceanites oceanicus White-faced storm-petrel, Pelagodroma marina (A) Black-bellied storm-petrel, Fregetta tropica
Northern storm-petrels Order: ProcellariiformesFamily: Hydrobatidae
Though the members of this family are similar in many respects to the southern storm-petrels, including their general appearance and habits, there are enough genetic differences to warrant their placement in a separate family.