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Cook Islands bird checklist

70 bird species in 23 families have been recorded in the Cook Islands, according to eBird; about 65 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 · How these lists are made

The most common birds in the Cook Islands right now

  1. 1Pacific Imperial-Pigeon
  2. 2Pacific Reef-Heron
  3. 3Red-tailed Tropicbird
  4. 4Red-footed Booby
  5. 5Common Myna
  6. 6Brown Noddy
  7. 7Red Junglefowl
  8. 8Great Frigatebird
  9. 9White-tailed Tropicbird
  10. 10Sooty Shearwater
The top 20, and how they are ranked

Cook Islands bird checklist

70 species · loading the checklist tools…

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

  • Australian Shelduck
  • Muscovy Duck
  • Pacific Black Duck

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

  • Red Junglefowl

Pigeons and Doves

  • Rock Pigeon
  • Cook Islands Fruit-Dove
  • Pacific Imperial-Pigeon

Cuckoos

  • Long-tailed Koel

Swifts

  • Atiu Swiftlet

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

  • Spotless Crake

Plovers and Lapwings

  • Black-bellied Plover
  • Pacific Golden-Plover
  • Semipalmated Plover
  • Masked Lapwing

Sandpipers and Allies

  • Bristle-thighed Curlew
  • Eurasian Whimbrel
  • Gray-tailed Tattler
  • Wandering Tattler
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Sanderling
  • Pectoral Sandpiper

Skuas and Jaegers

  • Parasitic Jaeger

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

  • Laughing Gull
  • Blue-billed White-Tern
  • Brown Noddy
  • Black Noddy
  • Blue-gray Noddy
  • Sooty Tern
  • Black-naped Tern
  • Great Crested Tern

Tropicbirds

  • White-tailed Tropicbird
  • Red-tailed Tropicbird

Albatrosses

  • Black-browed Albatross

Southern Storm-Petrels

  • White-bellied Storm-Petrel
  • Polynesian Storm-Petrel

Shearwaters and Petrels

  • Pintado Petrel
  • Kermadec Petrel
  • Herald Petrel
  • Murphy's Petrel
  • Mottled Petrel
  • White-necked Petrel
  • Black-winged Petrel
  • Cook's Petrel
  • Collared Petrel
  • Bulwer's Petrel
  • Tahiti Petrel
  • Parkinson's Petrel
  • Wedge-tailed Shearwater
  • Buller's Shearwater
  • Sooty Shearwater
  • Christmas Shearwater
  • Tropical Shearwater

Frigatebirds

  • Lesser Frigatebird
  • Great Frigatebird

Boobies and Gannets

  • Red-footed Booby
  • Brown Booby
  • Masked Booby

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

  • Pacific Reef-Heron
  • Little Heron

Kingfishers

  • Mewing Kingfisher
  • Chattering Kingfisher

Old World Parrots

  • Eastern Rosella
  • Kuhl's Lorikeet
  • Blue Lorikeet

Monarch Flycatchers

  • Rarotonga Monarch

Reed Warblers and Allies

  • Cook Islands Reed Warbler

Starlings

  • Rarotonga Starling
  • Common Myna
  • Jungle Myna

Waxbills and Allies

  • Chestnut-breasted Munia

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

  1. Pacific Imperial-PigeonDucula pacifica
  2. Pacific Reef-HeronEgretta sacra
  3. Red-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon rubricauda
  4. Red-footed BoobySula sula
  5. Common MynaAcridotheres tristis
  6. Brown NoddyAnous stolidus
  7. Red JunglefowlGallus gallus
  8. Great FrigatebirdFregata minor
  9. White-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon lepturus
  10. Sooty ShearwaterArdenna grisea
  11. Wedge-tailed ShearwaterArdenna pacifica
  12. Black NoddyAnous minutus
  13. Lesser FrigatebirdFregata ariel
  14. Blue LorikeetVini peruviana
  15. Mottled PetrelPterodroma inexpectata
  16. Wandering TattlerTringa incana
  17. Pacific Golden-PloverPluvialis fulva
  18. White-necked PetrelPterodroma cervicalis
  19. Jungle MynaAcridotheres fuscus
  20. Brown BoobySula leucogaster

Largest bird families in Cook Islands

Among its regular birds.

  • Shearwaters and Petrels17
  • Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers8
  • Sandpipers and Allies6
  • Plovers and Lapwings4
  • Pigeons and Doves3
  • Boobies and Gannets3
  • Starlings3
  • Tropicbirds2

Reported in the last 30 days

36 species reported to eBird in Cook Islands in the 30 days to 2026-10-13, most recent first:

Jungle Myna, Pacific Imperial-Pigeon, Red Junglefowl, Blue-billed White-Tern, Common Myna, Pacific Reef-Heron, Red-tailed Tropicbird, Red-footed Booby, Blue Lorikeet, Brown Noddy, White-tailed Tropicbird, Great Frigatebird, Mottled Petrel, Sooty Shearwater, White-necked Petrel, Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Wandering Tattler, Lesser Frigatebird, Black Noddy, Rarotonga Starling, Rarotonga Monarch, Cook Islands Fruit-Dove, Pacific Golden-Plover, Brown Booby, Herald Petrel, Black-naped Tern, Atiu Swiftlet, Chattering Kingfisher, Kuhl's Lorikeet, Masked Booby, Long-tailed Koel, Pacific Black Duck, Mewing Kingfisher, Cook Islands Reed Warbler, Great Crested Tern, Chestnut-breasted Munia.

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