Australia Ramsar wetland
North Keeling
34 bird species recorded; the most in December.
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30
This month here
0 species in January.20 species in February.3 species in March.1 species in April.5 species in May.0 species in June.0 species in July.0 species in August.0 species in September.20 species in October.25 species in November.28 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
No records for this month.
NT
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
NTNTNT- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
34 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 34Speciesrecorded more than once
- 15Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 0ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 735Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 1Raptors
- 9Waders
- 12Gulls & seabirds
- 2Ducks & geese
- 3Herons, ibises & grebes
- 5Songbirds
- 2Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 34 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Nankeen KestrelFalco cenchroides
Waders9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- Pied StiltHimantopus leucocephalus
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- Pectoral SandpiperCalidris melanotos
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Red-necked StintCalidris ruficollisNT
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- Pacific Golden PloverPluvialis fulva
- Long-toed StintCalidris subminuta
Gulls & seabirds12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Lesser FrigatebirdFregata ariel
- Great FrigatebirdFregata minor
- Red-footed BoobySula sula
- Angel TernGygis alba
- Anous stolidusAnous stolidus
- White-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon lepturus
- Masked BoobySula dactylatra
- Brown BoobySula leucogaster
- Sooty TernOnychoprion fuscatus
- Red-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon rubricauda
- Wedge-tailed ShearwaterPuffinus pacificus
- White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterus
Ducks & geese2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Pacific Black DuckAnas superciliosa
- Grey TealAnas gracilis
Herons, ibises & grebes3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Nankeen Night HeronNycticorax caledonicus
- Reef HeronEgretta sacra
- Egretta intermediaEgretta intermedia
Songbirds5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Tree MartinPetrochelidon nigricans
- Eastern Yellow WagtailMotacilla tschutschensis
- Blue-winged PittaPitta moluccensis
- Blue-and-white FlycatcherCyanoptila cyanomelana
Other birds2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Buff-banded RailGallirallus philippensis
- White-breasted WaterhenAmaurornis phoenicurus
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in December.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan28°/27°116 mm
- Feb28°/27°144 mm
- Mar28°/28°193 mm
- Apr28°/28°185 mm
- May28°/28°109 mm
- Jun28°/27°117 mm
- Jul27°/26°92 mm
- Aug26°/26°41 mm
- Sep26°/26°46 mm
- Oct26°/26°41 mm
- Nov27°/26°65 mm
- Dec27°/26°102 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
North Keeling.
Island in Indian Ocean in Australian territorial waters
North Keeling is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Australia.
34 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 735 open records.
The most recorded are the Buff-banded Rail, the Lesser Frigatebird and the Great Frigatebird.
14 species come for the summer, 0 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
The most species are recorded in December.
Get there and watch
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands Airport (CCK)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 40 km in a straight lineCar hire at LEA airport (Exmouth)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
- places to stay within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around North Keeling.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Islandyasthe islandNorth Keeling1.2 km²
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q1336227) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 735 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Islandyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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