Christmas Island
Red-tailed Tropicbird, Abbott's Booby and Christmas Island Frigatebird, Christmas Island © John Brodie-Good
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Christmas Island is a tiny dot in the vast Indian Ocean, an outpost of Australia on the fringes of Asia. An island with steep limestone cliffs, a rugged coastline and a plateau that support rich rainforest. A national park protects 63% of the island. Like all remote ocean islands, Christmas Island is a place of migrants. Over time many have become endemic and are found nowhere else in the world.
Welcome to Christmas Island - with 253 endemic animals and plants.
A seabird mecca ......
Christmas Island is one of the world's truly spectacular tropical seabird breeding stations. It's not just the number and variety of seabirds, or their magnificent splendour that make the island so remarkable, but also their sheer visibility. It is estimated that around 80,000 seabirds nest here annually. Flocks of Red-footed and Brown Boobies stream out to sea every morning and return each evening to their nests in the rainforest canopy and on the limestone cliffs. Silver Bosuns (Red-tailed Tropicbirds) cackle and display along the coasts and cliff lines in the middle of the day, and Golden Bosuns (White-tailed Tropicbirds) chase each other over the town and forest. Frigates soar lazily about, waiting for opportunities to steal the catch of other seabirds. Noddies loiter on cliffs, buoys and railings around the coves and beaches. Seabirds can be seen and heard everywhere on the Island, at just about any time of the day.
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White-tailed Tropicbird, copyright Tony Palliser. The endemic subspecies on Christmas Island has a unique golden morph. Perhaps 6,000 - 12,000 breeding pairs.
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Christmas Island is the only place where either species of pelecaniformes (the group of birds containing frigates, boobies, tropicbirds, pelicans and cormorants) breed in one place. It is also the only place where three species of frigate breed, and of course the only place on our planet where Abbott's Booby and Christmas Island Frigatebird breed. The local subspecies of Great Frigatebird is unique and the stunning Golden Bosun (an endemic subspecies of the White-tailed Tropicbird) is a sight seen only at Christmas Island.
Endemics in the rainforest .....
The rainforests of Christmas Island are alive with unique species and subspecies of birds. The most abundant species is the Christmas Island White-eye, noisy flocks of which can be found everywhere on the Island. The Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon, which is almost as common, can also be seen everywhere, and its deep, booming calls echoing through the island rainforest gives the island a sound of its own. The local form of the Glossy Switflet hunts insects on the wing through the day, and the Emerald Dove and Island Thrush are both unique subspecies and widespread on the Island. Scarcer are the two predators, the Christmas Island Goshawk and the Christmas Island Hawk-Owl. Being laid-back islanders, all of these birds are very approachable, which makes a birding trip on Christmas Island an unforgettable experience.
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Christmas Island White-eye, copyright Phil Cash. Found only on Christmas Island. Related species occur in Asia, the Pacific and Australia. Common in all habitats. Nest mostly in wet season.
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"Wherever you venture around the island there is always the presence of birds. From the inquisitive appearance of the Christmas Island Goshawk to the wheeling flights of the exquisite Golden Bosunbird, Christimas Island is without doubt a unique and fascinating place." Mark Holdsworth, prominent Australian wildlife biologist.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2008. For more information visit www.christmas.net.au
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