Pacific Baza pays a visit
Exciting! We had a visit from a rare bird this morning. A juvenile Pacific Baza took refuge in the trees in our garden for a short time.
A Pacific Baza is a large bird of prey with a funny-looking crest on its head. The adults have a white head, neck, and shoulders, whereas this one still has the cinnamon colouring of a juvenile.
These birds are uncommon, mostly found in north and north-east Australia, and are rare in New South Wales (where I am). They eat small reptiles, and praying mantises and stick insects (both of which can be quite large in Australia).
Common name: Pacific Baza
Scientific name: Aviceda subcristata
Length: 35-45 cm
Wing span: 1 metre
Date spotted: 6 July 2021 (winter)
Location: Allambie Heights, NSW, Australia
Posted on 2021/07/06, in Birds, Pacific Baza and tagged australia, birds, birds of prey, birdwatching, hawks, Pacific Baza, Sydney birds. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Sydney Birder 
I seen one today in my yard at Kew on the mid north coast.It floated in and settled in a tree and it was there long enough for me to get my binoculars to verify what it was
Lovely! “Floated” is exactly right. It’s a treat when they spread their wings and you see just how large the bird is.
Pacific Baza back again in Kew almost to the day! so good.
Lucky you! I’ll keep a look out in my area too.
Pacific Baza treated us with a visit this morning .Got a good close look at it and it did not feel threatened.
It glided around our place from tree to tree as the grey minors harassed it. It’s wing span and patterns on it’s breast is amazing.
Hallo grant
How lovely! Do you happen to have any pictures of the bird? If not, no worries, I love reading the words too. It sounds like a beautiful bird.
Cheers
Sarah