Fauna of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

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The endemic subspecies of buff-banded rail

The terrestrial fauna of the

habitats, and their isolation from large land-masses. However, the fauna
dependent on marine resources is much richer.

Birds

As a small and isolated group of islands in two

eastern reef egret, nankeen night heron and the introduced Christmas white-eye
. Four other introduced species are now extinct in the Islands. Several other landbird species have been recorded occasionally, but none has established a breeding population.

Migratory waders recorded in the islands include some regular visitors as well as vagrants. None breeds there. However,

common noddies and white terns. Other breeding seabirds include wedge-tailed shearwaters, masked boobies, brown boobies, red-tailed and white-tailed tropicbirds, and sooty terns. It is possible that the herald petrel
breeds there as well.

Presumably, before human occupation of the islands in the 19th century, seabirds bred on both atolls. However, with the establishment of a human population and the introduction of rodents to the southern atoll, significant seabird colonies are now restricted to the northern atoll of North Keeling. Although the Cocos islanders used to visit North Keeling regularly to harvest seabirds, this practice largely ceased with the establishment of

Pulu Keeling National Park
in 1995.

List of birds

Mammals

Main article: List of mammals of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

There are no native land mammals. Two species of rodent, the

Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak), and Sambar
(Cervus unicolor), were introduced but did not persist. Marine mammals recorded stranding on, or seen passing by, the islands include:

Reptiles

Terrestrial reptiles include three geckos and a blind-snake, all of which may have been inadvertently transported to the islands by humans:

  • Gekkonidae
    • Mourning gecko
      , Lepidodactylus lugubris
    • Four-clawed gecko
      , Gehyra mutilata
    • House gecko
      , Hemidactylus frenatus
  • Typhlopidae
    • Blind snake
      , Typhlops braminus

Marine reptiles include:

Fish

Over 500 species of fish have been recorded around the islands.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Birding-Aus mailing list archives

Sources

  • Anon. (2004). Pulu Keeling National Park Management Plan. Australian Government.
    ISBN 0-642-54964-8
  • Birding-Aus Mailing List Archives
  • Carter, Mike. (1994). Birds of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Wingspan 15: 14-18.
  • Gibson-Hill, C.A. (1950). A note on the reptiles occurring on the Cocos-Keeling Islands. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum 22: 206-211.
  • Gibson-Hill, C.A. (1950). Notes on the birds of the Cocos-Keeling Islands. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum 22: 212-270.
  • Gibson-Hill, C.A. (1950). The Muridae of the Cocos-Keeling Islands. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum 22: 271-277.
  • Gibson-Hill, C.A. (1950). A note on the Cetacea stranded on the Cocos-Keeling Islands. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum 22: 278-279.
  • Hadden, Don. (2006). Cocos (Keeling) Island birds. Wingspan 16(4): 34-37.
  • Stokes, Tony, Wendy Shiels and Kevin Dunn (1984). Birds of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. 'The Emu' 84 (1): 23-29.
  • Stokes, Tony and Peter Goh (1987). Records of Herald Petrels and the Christmas Frigatebird from North Keeling Island, Indian Ocean. 'Australian Bird Watcher' 12 (4) 132-133.
  • Woodroffe, Colin D. (Editor) (1994). Ecology and Geomorphology of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. 'Atoll Research Bulletins' 399-414. Compilation of 14 individual papers by different authors published in a single volume. The papers include an introduction to scientific studies on the Islands, and detailed reports o the climate, hydrology and water resources; Late Quaternary Morphology; Geomorphology; Reef Islands; Vegetation; Update on Birds; Marine habitats; Sediment Facies; Hydrodynamic observations; Hermatypic corals; Marine molluscs; Echindoderms; Fishes; Barnacles; and Decapod crustaceans.
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