Cocos (Keeling) Islands bird checklist

153 bird species in 39 families have been recorded in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, according to eBird; about 133 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 Cocos (Keeling) Islands right now

The top 20, and how they are ranked

Cocos (Keeling) Islands bird checklist

153 species · loading the checklist tools…

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Muscovy Duck
Cotton Pygmy-Goose
Australasian Shoveler
Eurasian Wigeon
Pacific Black Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Gray Teal

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Green Junglefowl
Red Junglefowl

Pigeons and Doves

Rock Pigeon
Oriental Turtle-Dove

Cuckoos

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo
Asian Koel
Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo
Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo
Large Hawk-Cuckoo
Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo
Indian Cuckoo
Common Cuckoo
Oriental Cuckoo

Swifts

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

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Corn Crake
Buff-banded Rail
Eurasian Moorhen
Black-backed Swamphen
Watercock
White-breasted Waterhen
Baillon's Crake

Stilts and Avocets

Pied Stilt

Oystercatchers

Pied Oystercatcher

Plovers and Lapwings

Black-bellied Plover
Pacific Golden-Plover
Gray-headed Lapwing
Oriental Plover
Siberian Sand-Plover
Tibetan Sand-Plover
Greater Sand-Plover
Kentish Plover

Jacanas

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

Sandpipers and Allies

Eurasian Whimbrel
Little Curlew
Far Eastern Curlew
Eurasian Curlew
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black-tailed Godwit
Pin-tailed 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
Long-toed Stint
Red-necked Stint
Sanderling
Little Stint
Pectoral Sandpiper

Pratincoles and Coursers

Oriental Pratincole

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Blue-billed White-Tern
Brown Noddy
Lesser Noddy
Sooty Tern
Bridled Tern
Little Tern
Saunders's Tern
Whiskered Tern
White-winged Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
Great Crested Tern

Tropicbirds

White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird

Shearwaters and Petrels

Barau's Petrel
Bulwer's Petrel
Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Frigatebirds

Lesser Frigatebird
Great Frigatebird

Boobies and Gannets

Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
Masked Booby

Cormorants and Shags

Little Black Cormorant

Ibises and Spoonbills

Glossy Ibis

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Black Bittern
Cinnamon Bittern
Schrenck's Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Nankeen Night Heron
Malayan Night Heron
Pacific Reef-Heron
Little Egret
Western Reef-Heron
Pied Heron
White-faced Heron
Little Heron
Chinese Pond-Heron
Javan Pond-Heron
Eastern Cattle-Egret
Great Egret
Medium Egret
Purple Heron

Osprey

Osprey

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Oriental Honey-buzzard
Japanese Sparrowhawk
Chinese Sparrowhawk

Kingfishers

Common Kingfisher

Rollers

European Roller
Dollarbird

Falcons and Caracaras

Nankeen Kestrel
Eurasian Hobby
Brown Falcon
Peregrine Falcon

Pittas

Blue-winged Pitta

Old World Orioles

Black-naped Oriole

Drongos

Crow-billed Drongo

Shrikes

Tiger Shrike
Brown Shrike

Grassbirds and Allies

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler

Swallows

Barn Swallow
Asian House-Martin
Tree Martin

Leaf Warblers

Arctic Warbler

White-eyes, Yuhinas, and Allies

Christmas Island White-eye

Starlings

Rosy Starling
Daurian Starling

Thrushes and Allies

Siberian Thrush
Eyebrowed Thrush

Old World Flycatchers

Gray-streaked Flycatcher
Dark-sided Flycatcher
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Blue-and-white Flycatcher
Narcissus Flycatcher
Mugimaki Flycatcher
Blue Rock-Thrush
Northern Wheatear

Waxbills and Allies

Java Sparrow

Wagtails and Pipits

Gray Wagtail
Eastern Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail
Tree Pipit
Red-throated Pipit

Old World Buntings

Yellow-breasted Bunting

Most common birds in Cocos (Keeling) 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 Cocos (Keeling) Islands’s regular birds. The list follows the seasons: migrants rise in spring and autumn.

Pacific Reef-HeronEgretta sacra
Green JunglefowlGallus varius
Red JunglefowlGallus gallus
Nankeen Night HeronNycticorax caledonicus
Medium EgretArdea intermedia
Blue-billed White-TernGygis candida
Buff-banded RailGallirallus philippensis
White-breasted WaterhenAmaurornis phoenicurus
Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
Pacific Golden-PloverPluvialis fulva
Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
Bar-tailed GodwitLimosa lapponica
SanderlingCalidris alba
Brown NoddyAnous stolidus
Sooty TernOnychoprion fuscatus
Red-footed BoobySula sula
Greater Sand-PloverAnarhynchus leschenaultii
Great EgretArdea alba
Common GreenshankTringa nebularia

Largest bird families in Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Among its regular birds.

Sandpipers and Allies25
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns17
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers10
Old World Flycatchers8
Cuckoos7
Rails, Gallinules, and Coots6
Plovers and Lapwings6
Wagtails and Pipits5

Reported in the last 30 days

8 species reported to eBird in Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the 30 days to 2026-10-13, most recent first:

Blue-billed White-Tern, Green Junglefowl, Pacific Reef-Heron, Red Junglefowl, Nankeen Night Heron, Medium Egret, Buff-banded Rail, White-breasted Waterhen.