WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY - Pacific Baza

This is a bird that I was fortunate to see in my daughter’s garden when they were living near Innisfail, Queensland in Australia.  I know the shots are not great however I was delighted to see it although it was always positioned very high in the tree tops.

Pacific Baza - Aviceda subcristata -35–45 cm

Its habitats include margins and spaces of gallery forest, monsoon forest, swamp forest, rainforest and woodland, and tropical and subtropical open forests, preferably adjoining closed forest areas and often near water; occasionally uses suburban gardens in leafy tropical suburbs. 

Weaves and circles around the treetops, often in family parties, occasionally in flocks of 30 or more; plunges into canopy foliage, snatching at stick insects, mantids, frogs or small reptiles on branches or foliage or, at times, the ground. Gliding and soaring flight is graceful; effortlessly floats on long, wide wings.

Has spectacular aerial display flights: plunges down with wings held in steep dihedral showing underwing colour; then swoops up in a climb. Usually repeats the sequence several times, all the while calling loudly. Has a distinctive, rising and falling ‘whiech-yoo, whiech-yoo, whiech-yoo’; the first part scratchy yet musical, rising strongly; the final ‘yoo’ low and mellow; repeated many times in succession, the calls a few seconds apart. Also has a rather mellow and musical ‘kaka-kaka-kak-a kak-ak-ak’, at times by both birds together, very rapid. 

Breeds Oct.–Feb. in a forest or woodland tree; prefers valleys with streams, or near pools or billabongs. Nest is usually concealed in dense outer foliage, large clump of regrowth or mistletoe in a horizontal fork towards the limb’s outer extremity, 10–30 m up. The shallow, rather small bowl of sticks is well lined with green leaves. Clutch 3–4 (43 x 35 mm). Incubation by female; male brings food, briefly relieving her. Young hatch at 30–32 days; first down white; they stay in the nest for about 34 days.

Uncommon across North and NE Australia, rare in New South Wales.  I am home now and now, after 6 weeks away have quite a bit of caching up to do and I hope soon to catch up on your posts on your blogs.  I hope by next week, I will start my posts about my adventures in Africa although there is so many photographs and a lot of video clicks that will take weeks/ months to process but I will get there eventually.

I am linking this post with WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY

I hope you enjoyed this bird as much as I did when I saw it.  

I have now safely arrived back home from 6 weeks away so have LOTS of editing to do!!  Thanks to all of you who looked in on my posts while I was away and commenting especially as I either did not have internet or time.  I appreciate that very much.