Pacific Baza

Aviceda subcristata

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This photograph was taken during a flight show

at the Territory Wildlife Park, Northern Territory.

other name
Crested Hawke

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DESCRIPTION

Male: 35 to 45cm in length with a wing span of 80cm. Slim black crest on a grey head. Piercing yellow eye; skin around eye is yellow-green with blue tinge. Black upper bill; lower mandible blue-grey with black tip. White breast with bold dark-brown bars. White underwing, flight feathers are darkly barred with a black trailing edge. Orange-buff wing linings and undertail coverts. Upper parts medium to dark grey-blue. Tail is dark grey with darker barres above and pale grey with broad black bands below. Feet pale grey with dusky coloured claws.

Female: As male, except crown, mantle and rump are browner. Throat slightly whiter, upper breast lighter grey. The female also has a longer tail than the male.

Juvenile: Similar to adults but browner in colour. Upper breast is buff and the bars are thinner. Undertail is strongly barred.

Voice: Descending mellow double whistle commonly heard during breeding months and weak piping in flight.

The Pacific Baza is a sedentary bird and can be found in coastal northern Australia from Sydney in New South Wales to Cape York in Queensland and in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and the Top End of the Northern Territory. It prefers a leafy habitat in rainforests fringes, open eucalypt forests, woodlands, timbered watercourses and well treed suburbs. The baza is often seen in permanent pairs and small family parties soaring over the territory in shallow circles. Flight is slow and leisurely. It also performs tumbling displays often while hunting and catches insects mid-air. Prey is also caught around outer foliage, sometimes the bird crashes into foliage, presumably to disturb and catch prey. Diet consists of grubs, frogs, reptiles but mainly large stick insects. The Pacific Baza breeds from October to December and the nesting season is heralded by spectacular aerial displays. The flimsy, cup like nests are built by both sexes on a leafy branch 15 to 30 metres above the ground. Two to five eggs are laid and incubation is by both parents lasting 33 days. During this time both parents fiercely protect the nest, raising their crests and swooping low to attack intruders. As the young grow the female spends much time attending to the nest while the male hunts. Young fledge in 32 to 35 days.