Often referred to as Australia's Galapagos, Christmas Island is an unspoilt tropical paradise, quietly hidden away in the Indian Ocean.
Covered in lush rainforest, the island is home to 23 resident or breeding species of sea and land birds. The Christmas Island Frigatebird and the Abbott's Booby - two of the world's rarest and most spectacular seabirds, can often be seen soaring in the skies alongside White-tailed and Red-tailed Tropicbirds.
A Fruit Pigeon, the rare Hawk Owl and White-eyes are just a few more examples of the amazing variety of birds that co-exist with an extraordinary diversity of plant and animal life such as the migrating Red Crabs and the gigantic Robber Crabs.
Click to view video of the island's remarkable wildlife.
Christmas Island boasts:
- Abbott's Booby and the Christmas Island Frigatebird, two seabirds that breed nowhere else;
- A Fruit Pigeon, Hawk Owl and White-eye found nowhere else;
- Breeding colonies of White-tailed and Red-tailed Tropicbirds;
- Robber Crabs - the largest invertibrates on earth;
- Coral reefs and tropical rainforest.
Bird & Nature Week
Every September, Bird & Nature Week guests join scientists in their research with daily field trips. Activites include colour-banding birds on the remote rocky coasts and rainforest canopy, spotlighting the rare Christmas Island Hawk Owl, and learning the nesting biology of Red-tailed Tropicbirds first-hand.
Nightly seminars, photography workshops and special biology guided tours are included, which will allow you to explore the natural beauty and exotic wildlife of Australia's most spectacular, yet rarely visited, tropical island.
Book your place at Christmas Island Bird n' Nature week 2012
Learn more about Christmas Island Bird n' Nature Week 2012
Christmas Island is a year-round nesting ground for Green Turtles and Hawksbill Turtles. A recent video posted to YouTube shows that the island's beaches are so full of flotsam and jetsam, hatchling turtles can’t get through the garbage to get to the sea. Help the turtles by signing the petition to clean up Christmas Island. What do you think of the turtles plight? What is the best way we can help?
