British Indian Ocean Territory bird checklist

128 bird species in 33 families have been recorded in the British Indian Ocean Territory, according to eBird; about 124 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 British Indian Ocean Territory right now

The top 20, and how they are ranked

British Indian Ocean Territory bird checklist

128 species · loading the checklist tools…

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Australian Shelduck
Cotton Pygmy-Goose
Garganey
Mallard
Northern Pintail

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Red Junglefowl

Pigeons and Doves

Rock Pigeon
Malagasy Turtle-Dove
Zebra Dove

Swifts

White-throated Needletail
Common Swift
Pacific Swift

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Eurasian Moorhen
Watercock
White-breasted Waterhen

Stilts and Avocets

Black-winged Stilt

Plovers and Lapwings

Black-bellied Plover
Pacific Golden-Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Oriental Plover
Tibetan Sand-Plover
Greater Sand-Plover
Kentish Plover

Sandpipers and Allies

Eurasian Whimbrel
Far Eastern Curlew
Eurasian Curlew
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black-tailed Godwit
Pin-tailed Snipe
Common Snipe
Red-necked Phalarope
Terek Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Gray-tailed Tattler
Marsh Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Spotted Redshank
Common Greenshank
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Ruff
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Temminck's Stint
Long-toed Stint
Red-necked Stint
Sanderling
Dunlin
Little Stint
Pectoral Sandpiper

Crab-Plover

Crab-Plover

Pratincoles and Coursers

Collared Pratincole
Oriental Pratincole

Skuas and Jaegers

Parasitic Jaeger
Pomarine Jaeger
South Polar Skua

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Lesser Black-backed Gull
Blue-billed White-Tern
Brown Noddy
Lesser Noddy
Sooty Tern
Bridled Tern
Little Tern
Saunders's Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Whiskered Tern
White-winged Tern
Common Tern
Black-naped Tern
Roseate Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
Great Crested Tern

Flamingos

Greater Flamingo

Tropicbirds

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

Southern Storm-Petrels

Wilson's Storm-Petrel
White-faced Storm-Petrel
Black-bellied Storm-Petrel

Northern Storm-Petrels

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

Shearwaters and Petrels

Bulwer's Petrel
Jouanin's Petrel
Tahiti Petrel
Flesh-footed Shearwater
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Tropical Shearwater
Persian Shearwater

Frigatebirds

Lesser Frigatebird
Great Frigatebird

Boobies and Gannets

Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
Masked Booby

Ibises and Spoonbills

Glossy Ibis

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Cinnamon Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Black-crowned Night Heron
Little Egret
Little Heron
Indian Pond-Heron
Eastern Cattle-Egret
Great Egret
Medium Egret
Gray Heron
Purple Heron

Osprey

Osprey

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

European Honey-buzzard
Pied Harrier
White-bellied Sea-Eagle

Hoopoes

Common Hoopoe

Bee-eaters

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Rollers

European Roller

Falcons and Caracaras

Lesser Kestrel
Amur Falcon
Lanner Falcon
Peregrine Falcon

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

House Crow

Swallows

Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow

Bulbuls

White-eared Bulbul

Starlings

Rosy Starling
Common Myna

Weavers and Allies

Red Fody

Wagtails and Pipits

Gray Wagtail
Western Yellow Wagtail

Most common birds in British Indian Ocean Territory

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 British Indian Ocean Territory’s regular birds. The list follows the seasons: migrants rise in spring and autumn.