Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Ashmore and Cartier Islands are remote Australian external territories in the Timor Sea, lying between northwest Australia and Indonesia. They consist almost entirely of small coral islands, sand cays, reef flats and surrounding shallow marine habitats rather than a substantial landmass. Ashmore Reef is the larger and more biologically important of the two, with three vegetated islands surrounded by an extensive reef system. It is the largest of only three emergent oceanic reefs in the northeastern Indian Ocean with vegetated islands, making it particularly distinctive geographically. Cartier Island is a much smaller, unvegetated sand cay within its own marine reserve. There is no permanent population, and access is extremely remote and tightly managed. Traditional Indonesian fishing access is permitted in designated areas around Ashmore under a long-standing bilateral agreement.
Overview
Ashmore Reef is far more significant for birding than its tiny land area suggests. It is an Important Bird Area and Ramsar wetland, supporting internationally significant breeding seabirds and migratory shorebirds. Around 100,000 seabirds may use the islands for breeding, with Sooty Tern particularly numerous; other breeders include Brown Booby, Lesser Frigatebird, Bridled Tern, Crested Tern and Brown Noddy. The reef is also an important stopover for East Asian–Australasian Flyway migrants, including Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey-tailed Tattler, Greater Sand Plover, Ruddy Turnstone and Sanderling. Cartier Island supports fewer birds, with Brown Booby and Sooty Tern among the regular seabirds. This is not a conventional birding-tourism destination: access requires specialist expedition or research arrangements and is subject to strict marine-park regulations.
Top 10 target species
| Species | Annual frequency | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown Booby Sula leucogaster | 55.4% | 25.0% | 16.7% | 65.6% | 65.0% | 66.7% | 80.6% | 91.4% | 88.5% | 58.4% | 57.2% | 49.2% | 0.0% |
| Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscatus | 51.3% | 25.0% | 8.4% | 53.1% | 70.0% | 66.7% | 84.4% | 93.1% | 77.7% | 40.3% | 44.5% | 52.8% | 0.0% |
| Brown Noddy Anous stolidus | 45.4% | 25.0% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 40.0% | 50.0% | 73.9% | 86.4% | 73.8% | 54.2% | 44.2% | 30.1% | 0.0% |
| Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel | 44.5% | 25.0% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 28.6% | 58.4% | 62.8% | 87.9% | 71.2% | 58.4% | 40.2% | 35.2% | 0.0% |
| Great Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii | 40.9% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 62.5% | 28.6% | 20.9% | 75.6% | 79.5% | 58.3% | 50.0% | 37.4% | 27.7% | 0.0% |
| Red-footed Booby Sula sula | 37.1% | 25.0% | 8.3% | 40.6% | 22.1% | 29.2% | 88.9% | 58.1% | 67.1% | 25.0% | 41.4% | 39.1% | 0.0% |
| Pacific Reef-Heron Egretta sacra | 35.8% | 25.0% | 16.7% | 43.8% | 28.5% | 20.9% | 44.5% | 56.2% | 53.8% | 50.0% | 55.3% | 35.5% | 0.0% |
| Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus | 35.1% | 25.0% | 0.0% | 37.5% | 55.0% | 50.0% | 63.3% | 43.8% | 72.7% | 43.1% | 28.9% | 2.3% | 0.0% |
| Masked Booby Sula dactylatra | 28.7% | 25.0% | 8.3% | 34.4% | 14.8% | 20.8% | 41.7% | 47.4% | 66.9% | 19.5% | 35.9% | 29.4% | 0.0% |
| Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda | 27.4% | 25.0% | 8.3% | 34.4% | 19.7% | 20.9% | 57.8% | 45.7% | 46.3% | 14.0% | 37.9% | 19.1% | 0.0% |