Ashmore and Cartier Islands bird checklist

158 bird species in 44 families have been recorded in the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, according to eBird; about 145 of them are seen regularly, and the rest are rarities, vagrants and escaped or introduced birds. Download the full list as a PDF, or tick birds off on your phone, with counts and notes, even without signal.

Species data: eBird.org, updated 13 Oct 2026 · How these lists are made

The most common birds in the Ashmore and Cartier Islands right now

The top 20, and how they are ranked

Ashmore and Cartier Islands bird checklist

158 species · loading the checklist tools…

Magpie Goose

Magpie Goose

Pigeons and Doves

Peaceful Dove
Nicobar Pigeon
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove

Cuckoos

Pacific Koel
Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo
Black-eared Cuckoo
Shining Bronze-Cuckoo
Little Bronze-Cuckoo
Pallid Cuckoo
Sahul Brush Cuckoo
Oriental Cuckoo

Nightjars and Allies

Large-tailed Nightjar

Swifts

White-throated Needletail
White-nest Swiftlet
Pacific Swift
House Swift

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Buff-banded Rail
Watercock
White-breasted Waterhen
Red-legged Crake

Stilts and Avocets

Pied Stilt

Oystercatchers

Pied Oystercatcher

Plovers and Lapwings

Black-bellied Plover
Pacific Golden-Plover
Oriental Plover
Siberian Sand-Plover
Tibetan Sand-Plover
Greater Sand-Plover

Sandpipers and Allies

Eurasian Whimbrel
Little Curlew
Far Eastern Curlew
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black-tailed Godwit
Asian Dowitcher
Swinhoe's Snipe
Red-necked Phalarope
Terek Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Gray-tailed Tattler
Marsh Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Common Greenshank
Ruddy Turnstone
Great Knot
Red Knot
Broad-billed Sandpiper
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Red-necked Stint
Sanderling
Little Stint

Buttonquail

Red-backed Buttonquail

Pratincoles and Coursers

Australian Pratincole
Oriental Pratincole

Skuas and Jaegers

Long-tailed Jaeger

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Brown Noddy
Lesser Noddy
Black Noddy
Sooty Tern
Bridled Tern
Little Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Australian Tern
Caspian Tern
Whiskered Tern
White-winged Tern
Common Tern
Black-naped Tern
Roseate Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
Great Crested Tern

Tropicbirds

White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-billed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird

Southern Storm-Petrels

Wilson's Storm-Petrel

Northern Storm-Petrels

Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel
Matsudaira's Storm-Petrel

Shearwaters and Petrels

Trindade Petrel
Bulwer's Petrel
Jouanin's Petrel
Tahiti Petrel
Streaked Shearwater
Flesh-footed Shearwater
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Hutton's Shearwater

Frigatebirds

Lesser Frigatebird
Great Frigatebird

Boobies and Gannets

Abbott's Booby
Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
Masked Booby
Nazca Booby

Cormorants and Shags

Little Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Black Bittern
Nankeen Night Heron
Pacific Reef-Heron
Little Egret
White-faced Heron
Little Heron
Great Egret

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Japanese Sparrowhawk
Chinese Sparrowhawk
Swamp Harrier

Barn-Owls

Eastern Barn Owl

Owls

Northern Boobook

Bee-eaters

Rainbow Bee-eater

Kingfishers

Red-backed Kingfisher
Forest Kingfisher
Sacred Kingfisher
Collared Kingfisher

Rollers

Dollarbird

Falcons and Caracaras

Nankeen Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon

Honeyeaters

Rufous-throated Honeyeater
Yellow Chat

Cuckooshrikes

Black-faced Cuckooshrike
White-winged Triller
Sahul Cicadabird

Fantails

Supertramp Fantail

Monarch Flycatchers

Island Monarch
Australian Spectacled Monarch
Magpie-lark
Broad-billed Flycatcher

Shrikes

Tiger Shrike
Brown Shrike

Reed Warblers and Allies

Oriental Reed Warbler
Australian Reed Warbler

Grassbirds and Allies

Gray's Grasshopper Warbler
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler
Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler
Brown Songlark
Tawny Grassbird

Swallows

Barn Swallow
Eastern Red-rumped Swallow
Fairy Martin
Tree Martin

Leaf Warblers

Yellow-browed Warbler
Willow Warbler
Eastern Crowned Warbler
Arctic Warbler
Kamchatka Leaf Warbler

White-eyes, Yuhinas, and Allies

Ashy-bellied White-eye
Australian Yellow White-eye

Starlings

Rosy Starling
Chestnut-cheeked Starling

Thrushes and Allies

Siberian Thrush

Old World Flycatchers

Gray-streaked Flycatcher
Dark-sided Flycatcher
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Blue-and-white Flycatcher
Siberian Blue Robin

Old World Sparrows

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Wagtails and Pipits

Gray Wagtail
Eastern Yellow Wagtail
Pechora Pipit

Most common birds in Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Ranked by how recently and how widely each was reported to eBird in the 30 days to 2026-10-13, and whether it is one of Ashmore and Cartier Islands’s regular birds. The list follows the seasons: migrants rise in spring and autumn.

Red-footed BoobySula sula
Brown BoobySula leucogaster
Pacific SwiftApus pacificus
Great FrigatebirdFregata minor
Greater Sand-PloverAnarhynchus leschenaultii
Lesser FrigatebirdFregata ariel
Little EgretEgretta garzetta
Masked BoobySula dactylatra
Pacific Reef-HeronEgretta sacra
Red-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon rubricauda
Bar-tailed GodwitLimosa lapponica
Sooty TernOnychoprion fuscatus
Brown NoddyAnous stolidus
Buff-banded RailGallirallus philippensis
Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
Pacific Golden-PloverPluvialis fulva
SanderlingCalidris alba
Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
Great EgretArdea alba

Largest bird families in Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Among its regular birds.

Sandpipers and Allies22
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers15
Cuckoos7
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns6
Shearwaters and Petrels6
Plovers and Lapwings5
Old World Flycatchers5
Grassbirds and Allies5

Reported in the last 30 days

14 species reported to eBird in Ashmore and Cartier Islands in the 30 days to 2026-10-13, most recent first:

Red-footed Booby, Brown Booby, Pacific Swift, Great Frigatebird, Greater Sand-Plover, Lesser Frigatebird, Little Egret, Masked Booby, Pacific Reef-Heron, Red-tailed Tropicbird, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sooty Tern, Brown Noddy, Buff-banded Rail.