WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD

Photographed on Cocos Islands December 2016

940           WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD             Phaethon lepturus

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Island)          667

Subspecies Golden Bosunbird were previous   :   lepturus: found in Indian Ocean;  fulvous (Golden Bosunbird) found Christmas Island; dorotheae found Pacific Ocean; catesbyi found in Bermuda and the Carribbean; ascension found Ascension Island; and europa found on Europa Island, s Mozambique Channel.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

   

Subspecies fulvus, photographed on Christmas Island, December 2016

DRONGO CUCKOO

(see   862)           DRONGO CUCKOO      Surniculus lugubris

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)              666

Found in broad-leafed evergreen and deciduous forest, secondary growth, occasionally parks, gardens, mangroves. 24.5 cm. Breeds N, NE Indian subcontinent, S India, Sri Lanka, SE Tibet, W and southern China, Greater Sundas, Philippines, Sulawesi, N Moluccas; northern population winter to south, Sumatra.

Note: first Australian record.

COMMON (EURASIAN) TEAL

                 Photographed on Cocos Island, December 2016     

939         COMMON (EURASIAN) TEAL           Anas crecca

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)            665

Found on lakes, large rivers, marshes and various wetlands. 34-38 cms. Breeds across northern Eurasia and mostly winters south of its breeding range

BROWN SHRIKE

Photographed on Cocos Islands December 2016

(see   928)         BROWN SHRIKE               Lanius cristatus 

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)         664

Found in open country, cultivation, gardens, secondary growth, forest edges. 19-20 cm. Breeds in temperate Asia and migrate to tropical Asia.; vagrant to Christmas and Cocos Islands.

ASIAN BROWN FLYCATCHER

Photographed on Cocos Islands December 2016

(*see 917)             ASIAN BROWN FLYCATCHER            Musicicapa dauurica

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)          663

 Found in open forests, secondary growth, plantations, parks, gardens, mangroves; breeds open forest inland. 12.5- 13.5 cm. Breeds in Japan, eastern Siberia and the Himalayas; migratory and winters in tropical southern Asia from southern India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia.  

WESTERN REEF EGRET

Photographed on Cocos Islands December 2016

938             WESTERN REEF EGRET           Egretta gularis

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)           662

Also known as Western Reef Heron. Found in southern Europe, Africa and parts of Asia.

YELLOW BITTERN

Photographed on Cocos Islands December 2016

(*   866)          YELLOW BITTERN             Ixobrychus sinensis

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)             (661)

Found in roadbeds, swamps, streams and estuaries. 30-40 cm. Breeds India, SE to NE Asia, Japan, Indonesia; has colonised some islands in Indian Ocean, SW Pacific. Rare in Australia, first record in Kalgoorlie 1967.

PIN-TAILED SNIPE

Photographed on Cocos Islands December 2016

(937)               PIN-TAILED SNIPE              Gallinago stenura

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)             (660)

Found in freshwater wetlands. 25-27 cm. Breeds in northern Russia and migrates to southern Asia from Pakistan to Indonesia; rare vagrant to N Australia.

ROSY STARLING

Photographed on Cocos Islands December 2016.

(936)              ROSY STARLING              Sturnus roseus

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)           (659)

Found in urban and rural areas. Range: Eastern Europe, Middle East to West and Central Asia; vagrant to Cocos Islands; recorded near Broome, WA Sep 2004; Coffs Harbour, NSW 2006.

Photographed on Cocos Island, January 2023

GREEN JUNGLEFOWL

Photographed on Cocos Islands, December 2016

(see    844)             GREEN JUNGLEFOWL            Gallus varius

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)              (658)

Introduced to the Cocos Islands where they are now thriving.

WHITE-BREASTED WATERHEN

Photographed on Cocos Islands, December 2016

(see  337/814)             WHITE-BREASTED WATERHEN            Amaurornis phoenicurus  

AUSTRALIA (Cocos Islands)            (657)

Note: self-introduced to Cocos Islands where they have flourished; also found in very small numbers on Christmas Island.

WESTERN CRESTED SHRIKETIT

Photographed in the Stirling Ranges, Western Australia, November 2016

935                  WESTERN CRESTED SHRIKETIT              Falcunculus leucogaster

AUSTRALIA              (656)

Found in open eucalyptus forest and woodland. Endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. Listed as near threatened.

WESTERN WHIPBIRD

Photographed at Cheyne's Beach (WA) November 2016

934                  WESTERN WHIPBIRD              Psophodes nigrogularis

AUSTRALIA               (655)

Also known as Black-throated or Mallee Whipcord. 20-26 cm. Found in dense unburned thickets of low eucalypt: mallee, banksia, acacia, tea-tree, coastal heath; broome honeymyrtle, tall spinifex. Distribution: four subspecies in small fragmented pockets from s WA to s SA-w Victoria, reduced by clearing, burning; rare and endangered.

EASTERN CATTLE EGRET

Subspecies coromandus photographed in Singapore November 2016

(see  216)                 CATTLE EGRET                Bibulous coromandus

SINGAPORE               (94)

Common migrant; found mostly in grasslands, occasionally freshwater marshes, avoids salt water, rarely seen on coastal mudflats; in Singapore often seen foraging near grass-cutters and lawnmowers. 52 cm. Widespread across Indian sub-continent, E and Southeast Asia, east to Australia; partly introduced in Singapore.