Editing Kiritimati (section)

===Birds===
[[File:Sterna fuscata flight.JPG|thumb|upright|Despite massive declines in recent decades, more [[sooty tern]]s continue to nest on Kiritimati than anywhere else in the world.]]
[[File:Xmas shearwaters roosting.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Christmas shearwater]] was named after Kiritimati.]]
[[File:Red-footed Boobies.jpg|thumb|right|White-[[polymorphism (biology)|morph]] [[red-footed booby|red-footed boobies]]. Those on Kiritimati will reuse nests for several years, unlike in most other colonies.]]

:''See also "Extinction" [[#Extinction|below]].''

More than 35&nbsp;bird [[species]] have been recorded from Kiritimati. As noted above, only the [[bokikokiko]] (''Acrocephalus aequinoctialis''), perhaps a few [[Rimitara lorikeet]]s (''Vini kuhlii'') – if any remain at all – and the occasional [[eastern reef egret]] (''Egretta sacra'') make up the entire landbird fauna. About 1,000&nbsp;adult bokikokikos are to be found at any date, but mainly in mixed grass/shrubland away from the settlements.<ref name=teebaki1993/>

On the other hand, [[seabird]]s are plentiful on Kiritimati, and make up the bulk of the breeding bird population. There are 18&nbsp;species of seabirds breeding on the island, and Kiritimati is one of the most important breeding grounds anywhere in the world for several of these:<ref name=teebaki1993/>

[[Phaethontiformes]]
* Eastern [[red-tailed tropicbird]] (''Phaethon rubricauda melanorhynchus''{{efn|name=doubtful-ssp|Validity of subspecies disputed.}}) – important breeding colony; 8,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline, fewer than 3,000 in 1984

[[Charadriiformes]]
* Micronesian [[black noddy]] (''Anous minutus marcusi'') – 20,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* [[Little white tern]] (''Gygis microrhyncha''{{efn|Usually described as a sub-species ''[[Gygis alba]] microrhyncha''}}) – 8,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* Central Pacific [[sooty tern]] (''Onychoprion fuscatus oahuensis''{{efn|name=doubtful-ssp}}) – largest breeding colony in the world; around 7,000,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* [[Spectacled tern]] (''Onychoprion lunatus'') – important breeding colony; 6,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* Central [[blue-grey noddy]] (''Procelsterna cerulea cerulea'') – important breeding colony, possibly the largest worldwide of this subspecies; 4,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline

[[Procellariiformes]]
* [[Polynesian storm petrel]] (''Nesofregetta fuliginosa'') – important breeding colony; 1,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* [[Phoenix petrel]] (''Pterodroma alba'') – largest breeding colony in the world; 24,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* [[Christmas shearwater]] (''Puffinus nativitatis'') – largest [[subpopulation]] worldwide on Motu&nbsp;Upua; 12,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* [[Wedge-tailed shearwater]] (''Puffinus pacificus''<ref name=Penhallurick/>) – among the very largest breeding colonies in the world; about 1,000,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline

[[Pelecaniformes]]
* Indopacific [[lesser frigatebird]] (''Fregata ariel ariel'') – important breeding colony; 9,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* Central Pacific [[great frigatebird]] (''Fregata minor palmerstoni''{{efn|name=doubtful-ssp}}) – important breeding colony; 12,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline, 6,500 afterwards
* Austropacific [[masked booby]] (''Sula dactylatra personata'') – important breeding colony; 3,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline
* Indopacific [[red-footed booby]] (''Sula sula rubripes''{{efn|name=doubtful-ssp}}) – 12,000&nbsp;birds before the 1982–1983 decline

Kiritimati's lagoon and the saltflats are a prime location for [[migratory bird]]s to stop over or even stay all winter. The most commonly seen migrants are [[ruddy turnstone]] (''Arenaria interpres''), [[Pacific golden plover]] (''Pluvialis fulva''), [[bristle-thighed curlew]] (''Numenius tahitiensis''), and [[wandering tattler]] (''Tringa incana''); other [[seabird]]s, [[wader]]s, and even [[dabbling duck]]s can be encountered every now and then.<ref name=teebaki1993/> Around 7&nbsp;October (±5&nbsp;days), some 20&nbsp;million sooty shearwaters pass through here en route from the North Pacific feeding grounds to breeding sites around [[New Zealand]].<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last1=Shaffer |first1=Scott A.
 |title=Migratory shearwaters integrate oceanic resources across the Pacific Ocean in an endless summer
 |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]
 |date=2006
 |volume=103 |issue=34 |pages=12799–12802
 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0603715103
 |pmid=16908846
 |pmc=1568927
 |bibcode=2006PNAS..10312799S
 |url=https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt71h247bh/qt71h247bh.pdf
|doi-access=free
 }}
</ref>