TREE PIPIT

945              TREE PIPIT             Anthus trivialis

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)          674

Breeds across most of Europe and temperate western and central Asia; long-distance migrant to Africa and south-eastern Asia.

NOTE:  this is the first record, and first photographs, of this bird in Australian territory.

SAUNDERS'S TERN

944                    SAUNDERS'S TERN             Sternula saundersi

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)           673

Not very well known tern, also called Black-shafted Tern, and often mistaken for Little Tern. Inhabits coastal areas, and up to two kilometres inland, ranging up to 15 kilometres out to sea when feeding. Found in Bahrain, Iran, Israel, Kenya, Madagascar, Pakistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Small flock appears on South Island in the Cocos Islands, this may be just a few birds or up to 20.

Photographed Cocos Islands, January 2023