I developed my interest in birds while living in the Cocos Keeling Islands, Western Australia. This remote Australian Territory in the middle of the Indian Ocean lies 2768km north- west of Perth and 3685 km due west of Darwin. The nearest neighbour, Christmas Island, is 900km north north-east and Sumatra and Java approximately 100km north -east. Charles Darwin developed his theory of atoll formati
on when he visited the Islands in 1836. The most common resident birds seen on West Island where I lived with my partner Geof are Nankeen Night Herons, White Terns, Common Noddies, White-breasted Waterhens, Eastern Reef Egrets, Little Egrets, Green Jungle Fowl and Pacific Black Ducks. Some migratory birds get lost as they travel from one area to another particularly the immature ones. They may be blown off course in bad weather conditions or their navigation skills may be poor. Others may be searching for new feeding grounds as their traditional feeding areas are destroyed by industrial developments such as those currently taking place in the Yellow Sea. Of these vagrants, some are fortunate enough to find their way to the Cocos Keeling Islands. Vagrant birds arrive on the islands in small numbers each year, particularly between October and April. Birds recently recorded in this category include Saunders’s Terns, Little Curlew, Common Sandpiper,Yellow and Grey Wagtails, Asian Koel, Tiger Shrike, Watercock, Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, Asian Brown Flycatcher and Dollar Bird. Some of the land birds in this category will have overshot Sumatra and Java, our near neighbours. Although there are not large numbers of birds on the Cocos Keeling Islands, many of the birds found are unusual and hard to find on mainland Australia. In recent years I've spent a lot more time in mainland Australia as well as in England and other parts of Europe. Wherever I go now I look for birds and love watching and finding out about them and their habitat. This site (formerly Cocos Birds) is a platform for my findings.
