Aviceda – Bazas

Bazas are a small group of very cool, slightly oddball raptors often called cuckoo-hawks—and they really live up to that name. Most people know the Pacific Baza of Australia and New Guinea, or the African Cuckoo-hawk, but they all share the same basic “baza look”: a slim body, long tail, big bright eyes, and a small crest that pops up into a little feather “horn” when they’re alert. Their underparts are usually barred like a cuckoo, which is part of why they picked up the cuckoo-hawk nickname. Perched in a tree, they can look surprisingly gentle for birds of prey, almost like sleepy woodland guardians with fancy stripy pajamas.

What really makes bazas different from many other hawks is how and what they hunt. Instead of focusing on mammals or birds, bazas love big insects—stick insects, grasshoppers, cicadas—and also frogs, lizards, and the odd small bird or fruit. Rather than stooping from great heights, they weave through treetops and then launch themselves feet-first into foliage, kicking into clumps of leaves to flush out prey. This “smash into the leaves” style is very baza: noisy, athletic, and surprisingly effective. In some places, they’re regular visitors to suburban parks with tall trees, so you can get a rainforest-style raptor vibe in the middle of town.

Geographically, the group is a nice tour of the tropics: African Cuckoo-hawks across sub-Saharan Africa, Pacific Bazas in Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and Asian species such as the Jerdon’s Baza and Black Baza scattered through South and Southeast Asia. Some, like the Black Baza, even form flocks and migrate, turning the sky into a stream of small black-and-white raptors passing overhead. Taken together, Aviceda / bazas are the “insect-specialist, forest-flying, crest-wearing” side branch of the hawk family—less famous than eagles and falcons, but full of personality if you know where to look.