Christmas Island, covering an area of 135 square kilometres, lies in the aqua-blue waters of the Indian Ocean 2,600 kilometres northwest of Perth, 2,600 kilometres west of Darwin and 500 kilometres south of Jakarta.
The island is predominantly rainforest of which two thirds is under Australian National Park protection.
Christidis and Boles (2008) recognises four endemic bird species. These are Christmas Island imperial-pigeon, Abbott’s booby, Christmas Island hawk-owl and Christmas Island white-eye. Christmas Island frigatebird is a breeding endemic, that is, it can be found elsewhere but breeds only on Christmas Island.
Clements 2000 lists five subspecies for Christmas Island: golden bosunbird, (race of white-tailed tropicbird), great frigatebird, Christmas Island emerald dove, Christmas Island glossy swiftlet and Christmas Island island thrush.
Perhaps the essence of Christmas Island can be found in the golden-hued bosunbirds and red-tailed tropicbirds as they glide the breeze and the graceful frigatebirds swooping down to fresh water — or the boobies returning from a day at sea to the forest canopy.
Besides these resident species, the island attracts numerous vagrants from south-east Asia including many that have not been recorded elsewhere in Australian territory. It seems that nearly every birding trip adds new species to the Australian bird list. The aim of this tour is to see all the endemics and Christmas Island subspecies and locate any vagrants that are about and even find some new ones! We maximise our changes of vagrants by going in the wet season.
Depending on whose taxonomic list you are following, Christmas Island has around 120 bird species, of which seven are deemed to be globally threatened.
The island is famous for its Christmas Island red crabs. In December a veritable army of these crustaceans surges to the sea to lay their eggs. While we won’t be there for the annual march, we will see these eerily quiet crabs as they munch their way through leaf litter on the rainforest floor. The humorously named crazy ants are a major threat to these iconic crabs.
Of the native mammals we should see Christmas Island fruitbat (flying fox) and hopefully the critically endangered, insectivorous, Christmas Island pipistrelle bat.
One needs only to waddle into the waters of Flying Fish Cove with snorkel and flippers to encounter some of the most glorious tropical fish Australia has to offer.
The island is predominantly populated by Chinese people, followed by Australians and Europeans and then Malay people. While English is the official language, it is common to hear Chinese dialects, Indonesian and Malay spoken.
The multiculturalism of Christmas Island is the result of its checkered history. Today it celebrates its racial diversity while blending it to create a unique and harmonious community.
Why Christmas Island? Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company passed by on the Royal Mary on 25 December 1643 and christened the island after the day.
Information
Cost: $3,670 AUD per person
Single supplement: $250 AUD
Cost includes flight from Perth on 8 February to Christmas Island returning 12 February, good accommodation with en suites, 4WD transport and all meals from the time we arrive on Christmas Island to our departure; and departure tax.
Not included are items of a personal nature, phone calls, mini bar charges etc. Travel insurance is recommended.
Limited to nine participants.
Leaders: Philip Maher and Patricia Maher
Climate: It is the wet season so we may see some tropical storms. It will be warm and humid. Medium daily temperatures range between a low of 23 and a high of 28 degrees C.
Christmas Island possible bird list
Red Junglefowl
Gallus gallus introduced
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Phaethon rubricauda
White-tailed Tropicbird (bosumbird)
Phaethon lepturus
Emerald Dove
Chalcophaps indica
Christmas Island Imperial-Pigeon
Ducula whartoni endemic
Glossy Swiftlet
Collocalia esculenta
Lesser Frigatebird
Fregata ariel
Great Frigatebird
Fregata minor
Christmas Island Frigatebird
Fregata andrewsi breeding endemic
Abbott's Booby
Papasula abbotti endemic
Red-footed Booby
Sula sula
Brown Booby
Sula leucogaster
Eastern Great Egret
Ardea modesta
White-faced Heron
Egretta novaehollandiae
Eastern Reef Egret
Egretta sacra
Brown Goshawk
Accipiter fasciatus
Nankeen Kestrel
Falco cenchroides
White-breasted Waterhen
Amaurornis phoenicurus
Pacific Golden Plover
Pluvialis fulva
Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpres
Common Noddy
Anous stolidus
Christmas Island Hawk-Owl
Ninox natalis endemic
Christmas Island White-eye
Zosterops natalis endemic
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rustica
Island Thrush
Turdus poliocephalus
Java Sparrow
Lonchura oryzivora introduced
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Passer montanus introduced
Yellow Wagtail
Motacilla tschutschensis
Grey Wagtail
Motacilla cinerea
and other possibilities ...
1997 trip report