For all keen twitchers who are on the trail of rare birds, then head to Australia, or specifically Christmas Island, where you can catch sight of the world’s rarest and biggest boobies; Abbott’s Boobies.
The endangered Abbott’s Booby have chosen Christmas Island as their exclusive nesting place, despite the fact that they are built for long distance flights. Abbott’s Boobies are the world’s largest boobies and have a wingspan that is similar in size to the albatross.
They’re the only boobies species in the world that nest only in the lofty rainforest canopy and they rely on wind to lift them from their high nesting. If the young boobies fall to the forest floor, this can leave the exposed to feral cats and robber crabs as there is very little wind down there. Abbotts’s Boobies are actually the best tree climbers of all booby species and can climb trees by hooking its bill over a branch and using its strong neck to drag itself back up.
Christmas Island is a wonderful location and highly regarded amongst the general bird watching community so if you are an avid birdwatcher then why not put the Christmas Islands on your holiday agenda? .
Christmas Island is in the Indian Ocean about 2,600km northwest of Perth in Australia and Christmas Island National Park has been nominated in the New 7 Wonders of the World campaign. The National Park is home to the last remaining nesting habitat of the Abbott’s Booby in the world. It also has the only nesting sites in the world of the Christmas Island frigate bird. The island also supports the world’s biggest remaining robber crab population and probably has the biggest and most diverse land crab community of anywhere in the world.
