Summary

We visited Christmas Island (Australia) for a week in April 2005. This is a great destination for anyone interested in natural history. It has beautiful forests, millions of crabs, lovely reefs teeming with tropical fishes, and accessible seabird populations, including the sole remaining breeding population of Abbott's Booby Papasula abbotti . Local food and accommodation are fine and the road network in good condition. We've posted some pictures from the trip of fish, crabs, and birds.

Birds

Having lived in the Pacific for seven years, we've had the chance to bird on a variety of oceanic islands and, typically, it's pretty hard going. Christmas Island, on the other hand, has some of the easiest and most rewarding island birding we've ever seen. The following birds were abundant and readily seen, in appropriate habitat:
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda
Abbott's Booby Papasula abbotti
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster
Red-footed Booby Sula sula
Christmas Frigatebird Fregata andrewsi
Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel
Great Frigatebird Fregata minor
Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica
Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon Ducula whartoni
Glossy Swiftlet Collocalia esculenta
Christmas Island White-eye Zosterops natalis
Island Thrush Turdus poliocephalus
This isn't a long list, and the full trip report isn't much longer (below). All the same, the birding was some of the most satisfying we can remember on any island. Being that these birds were isolated for so long, that very strongly have that 'naive' quality birds on oceanic islands can get. You can get perfect views of these animals and, if you time the light correctly, great photos. Seeing Great Frigatebirds displaying and hearing Abbott's Boobies calling in the rainforest were both particularly memorable. The list below includes all of the birds we saw on the island. There are some more specific notes at the bottom of this page.

Red Junglefowl	Gallus gallus	White-tailed Tropicbird	Phaethon lepturus
Red-tailed Tropicbird	Phaethon rubricauda	Abbott's Booby	Papasula abbotti
Brown Booby	Sula leucogaster	Red-footed Booby	Sula sula
Christmas Frigatebird	Fregata andrewsi	Lesser Frigatebird	Fregata ariel
Great Frigatebird	Fregata minor	Great Egret	Ardea alba
White-faced Heron	Egretta novaehollandiae	Nankeen Night Heron	Nycticorax caledonicus
Brown Goshawk	Accipiter fasciatus	Nankeen Kestrel	Falco cenchroides
Eurasian Coot	Fulica atra	Black-winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus
Common Noddy	Anous stolidus	Emerald Dove	Chalcophaps indica
Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon	Ducula whartoni	Moluccan Hawk-Owl	Ninox squamipila
Glossy Swiftlet	Collocalia esculenta	Java Sparrow	Lonchura oryzivora
Eurasian Tree Sparrow	Passer montanus	Christmas Island White-eye	Zosterops natalis
Island Thrush	Turdus poliocephalus

Diving and Fish

Because of its location, Christmas Island gets a mixture of typically Pacific and Indian Ocean fish. The variety and abundance were both outstanding. We planned to dive but didn't because of a head-cold. All the same, we went snorkeling several times in Flying Fish Cove, right at the end of Settlement. This is the island's port and still it had some of the best-looking coral we've seen in the Pacific or Indian oceans. Remarkable. There is so little fishing pressure, that we kept being surprised at the size of some of the fish. We saw several familiar species that were much, much larger here than elsewhere in their range. It was really a pleasure. We didn't work too hard at the fish identification (skipped working on gobbies, blennies, and most of the wrasses), and still managed to identify more than 80 species in a handful of snorkels. Fishbase lists 600 species around Christmas Island, and the actual fish community is more diverse than that. (We've formatted the fish list for download in Excel and PDF formats.) If you possibly can, get in the water.

Forests

We're told the forests on Christmas Island are the best remaining on any island in the Indian Ocean. Because of the millions of crabs on the islands, the forest floor looks freshly raked and, as you walk through, there's a constant, soft snicking noise from all sides. Everywhere you look, various crabs are busily mulching leaves. We'd heard about the local crabs, particularly the famous red crab migration, but didn't have any idea how important they are. Christmas Island has something like 20 species of land crab, several endemic. The red crab population alone is estimated at around 120 millions. When you go to the rainforest, the floor looks like it's been swept clean in many places. (Something like leaf-cutter ants do, but on a much bigger scale.) There is a constant sound of scuttling and crunching. These crabs mulch the forest beautifully, keeping the floor clear or nearly clear of litter and covered in really nice looking dirt. We've never been anywhere where you had to think of crabs as a major shaping force in the life history of an island. Evidently, Christmas Island didn't lose any endemic ground-nesting birds (unlike every other island you can name in the Pacific and Indian oceans) when people arrived because there wouldn't have been any there in the first place. Ground-nesting had no chance of evolving in an environment literally crawling with carnivorous crabs. For crab-fanciers, you'll be very happy to have many opportunities to see Coconut/Robber Crabs, pretty well extirpated from most of their range elsewhere.

Practicalities

A few quick notes on practical matters:

We stayed at the VQ3 and thought it was a great value at $85/night.
Rent a car. You can get a 2WD/4WD from $30/50 a day. 2WD is absolutely fine for most areas but won't get you to the end of every road.
There are a variety of restaurants of different sorts and prices (mostly inexpensive) and a full-size supermarket in Settlement.
Take a day to figure out the roads. There are maps and there are road signs...but the maps don't use the same names as the roads. It isn't that hard, but it's easiest to drive around a bit with a map in hand to sort it out.
There's good, low rainforest in a lot of places. Our favorite larger rainforest was along the Hugh's Dale Waterfall track. This also has an excellent range of crabs, including the Blue Crab and some of the Nippers.
Check at the Visitor's Center (between the CLA and the supermarket in Settlement) for maps, directions, etc. Check at the Forest service in Drumsite for tips on where to see birds.

The biggest business on the island, apart from the dying mining operation, is the Christmas Island Detention Centre. Much of the accommodation in Settlement was taken by project workers. In fact, we were the only tourists we saw on the island for most of our trip.

More Bird Notes

Below are a few more detailed notes on specific species for the benefit of any independent birders planning a trip.
Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus
There are a lot of feral chook running around, so I'm not 100% my sighting is correct. (Dipped on the Green Junglefowl during the stop-over on Cocos-Keeling, by the way. Did see what looked every bit like a pair of immature Striated Herons, however.)
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
There were white and golden White-Tailed Tropicbirds both in Settlement.
Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda
Easiest to see and hear in Settlement.
Nankeen Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus
One has taken up residence at the Dale Waterfall for the past year.
Heron/Egret Species
Never numerous but we didn't go to the tip. The White-faced Herons Egretta novaehollandiae
were the only skittish birds on island as they're being shot at the airport. It's feared they're a hazard to planes.
Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus
Not a numerous bird but, once seen, curious. David Jones at Parks says they'll follow you around for fifteen minutes at a time. They've banded 55 or an estimated 100+ pairs. Given the island is roughly 136K square, this may be as many Goshawks as should be expected. One found us on the Dale's Waterfall Trail at dusk.
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra
There was a temporary waterhole on the East-West Baseline right at the turnoff for the Blowhole Road. All three frigatebird species were flying down to scoop up water. A Black-winged Stilt and a Eurasian Coot where there, as well. I checked with Parks, and they were already aware of the Coot. They said it was the first one recorded on the island.
Moluccan Hawk-Owl Ninox squamipila
This very tiny owl is, we were told, widespread on the island. We went out to the golf course a few nights running and got a couple of looks at it. Not the easiest bird to find, but not bad at all for an owl. If you do go out spotlighting, watch your feet for Coconut Crabs! They're absolutely enormous (as big as your hat) and have huge, powerful pincers. They're out and about on lawns at night. There's also an endemic fruit-bat that may give you some eye-shine.
Java Sparrow Lonchura oryzivora and Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
We only noticed these in Settlement, but we weren't looking for them too hard.

Books

Various special-interest tiles regarding crabs, birds, fish and other subjects can be found at the Christmas Island Visitor's Centre.

For birds, any Australian guide that includes the Christmas Island endemics is suitable. We used our usual guide, The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia (2005) by Pizzey and Knight, . (Amazon US | UK) It's an historical/political accident that Australian bird lists and field guides include Christmas Island as there is no biological connection between Christmas Island and the Australian mainland. Christmas Island is due south of Java and Sumatra and, therefore, vagrants arrive from Indonesia and South-East Asia. With this in mind, many people recommend bringing A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia by Craig Robson (Amazon US | UK) for any unusual birds.

For fish, the Indian Ocean Reef Guide (2001) by Helmut Debelius is useful, including many great photos. (Amazon US | UK) We also found Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific (2003) by Allen, Steene, Humann, and DeLoach helpful. (Amazon US | UK) Despite its eccentric arrangement, this title illustrates a tremendous variety of species and includes reasonable range descriptions .

Maps

You can pick up better maps once you're on the island, but below are two maps that may prove handy while planning a trip. (Click each map for a full-size version.)

Wombat Country