Australia Ramsar wetland
The Dales
45 bird species recorded; the most in December.
David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0
This month here
16 species in January.9 species in February.18 species in March.22 species in April.10 species in May.15 species in June.12 species in July.18 species in August.16 species in September.18 species in October.26 species in November.34 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.
VU
VU
VU
VUVU
VU
VUVUVUVU
VUVUVUVUVU- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
45 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).
- 45Speciesrecorded more than once
- 14Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 2ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 1,993Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 2Raptors
- 1Owls
- 5Waders
- 9Gulls & seabirds
- 9Herons, ibises & grebes
- 10Songbirds
- 9Other 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 45 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Nankeen KestrelFalco cenchroides
- Brown GoshawkAccipiter fasciatus
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Christmas BoobookNinox natalisVU
Waders5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Oriental PratincoleGlareola maldivarum
- Pin-tailed SnipeGallinago stenura
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
Gulls & seabirds9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Abbott's BoobyPapasula abbotti
- White-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon lepturus
- Great FrigatebirdFregata minor
- Red-footed BoobySula sula
- Christmas FrigatebirdFregata andrewsiVU
- Brown BoobySula leucogaster
- Red-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon rubricauda
- Anous stolidusAnous stolidus
- Lesser FrigatebirdFregata ariel
Herons, ibises & grebes9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Reef HeronEgretta sacra
- Striated HeronButorides striata
- Malay Night-heronGorsachius melanolophus
- White-faced HeronEgretta novaehollandiae
- Purple heronArdea purpurea
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Little Black CormorantPhalacrocorax sulcirostris
- Great White EgretArdea alba
Songbirds10 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Christmas White-eyeZosterops natalis
- Turdus poliocephalusTurdus poliocephalus
- Java SparrowLonchura oryzivora
- Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
- Asian House MartinDelichon dasypus
- Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
- Eastern Yellow WagtailMotacilla tschutschensis
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Forest WagtailDendronanthus indicus
- Eastern Red-rumped SwallowCecropis daurica
Other birds9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Christmas Imperial-pigeonDucula whartoni
- Christmas Island SwiftletCollocalia natalis
- Common Emerald DoveChalcophaps indica
- White-breasted WaterhenAmaurornis phoenicurus
- Red JunglefowlGallus gallus
- Cave SwiftletCollocalia linchi
- Pacific SwiftApus pacificus
- Glossy SwiftletCollocalia esculenta
- House SwiftApus nipalensis
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°168 mm
- Feb28°/28°169 mm
- Mar28°/28°184 mm
- Apr29°/28°152 mm
- May28°/28°101 mm
- Jun28°/27°77 mm
- Jul27°/26°49 mm
- Aug26°/26°16 mm
- Sep26°/26°21 mm
- Oct26°/26°39 mm
- Nov27°/27°74 mm
- Dec28°/27°128 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
The Dales.
In the Indian Ocean
The Dales is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Australia.
45 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 1,993 open records.
The most recorded are the Christmas Imperial-pigeon, the Christmas White-eye and the Abbott's Booby.
5 species come for the summer, 8 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
2 are threatened worldwide, including Christmas Frigatebird and Christmas Boobook.
The most species are recorded in December.
Get there and watch
- Flying Fish Covenearest town · 15 km in a straight line
- Christmas Island International Airport (XCH)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 16 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
- 1viewpoints within 5 kmMartin Point Lookout
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 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 The Dales.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas19 mountains within 25 kmMurray Hill, Christmas Island361 m · 3.8 kmCamp Hill · 5.8 kmFerguson Hill · 9.1 kmAldrich Hill · 9.3 kmBean Hill · 9.3 kmRoss Hill319 m · 14 kmHanitch Hill · 16 kmGannet Hill · 20 km
Coastya4 beaches within 10 kmWinifred Beach · 3.4 kmWest White Beach · 3.4 kmRhoda Beaches · 8.5 kmSmithson Bight · 9.1 km
Darkskyas2 dark-sky places within 30 kmMurray Hill, Christmas IslandBortle 1 · 3.8 kmChristmas IslandBortle 1 · 8.9 km↗
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 kmGrants Well · 12 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
The Dales
Australia
- 41Birdyas Score
- 45Species
- 14Migrants
- 2Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q7728749) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 1,993 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 | Peakyas, Islandyas, Coastya, Darkskyas, Cascadyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit