Crest with flair!

Illustrations of A.subcristata (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001).

There is only 1 species of crested hawk in Australia, the Pacific Baza (Aviceda subcristata), although called the Pacific baza, their range only extends as far as the Solomon Islands towards the Pacific and not past the Wallace line to the west (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). A.subcristata’s diet consists mainly of large insects, tree frogs and small lizards, though throughout their range their diet can vary considerably. Strangely for a raptor, they also eat fruits like figs (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). Though described as a “crested hawk” bazas are more like kites and honey-buzzards (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). A.subcristata usually hunts in pairs or in small groups, mainly from still hunting where the bird swoops in on a prey from a high perch, in A.subcristata’s case most prey are taken from foliage of trees (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001).

Socially, the Pacific baza has been known to be in groups of up to 17 adults and juveniles, but usually in pairs, singly or smaller family parties (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). A.subcristata breeds around September/October – February in Australia and from July – January in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). The male’s undulating dance is very distinctively pigeon-like and often flight displays are accompanied by much calling from the birds (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). There are 16 subspecies of Pacific bazas described but with some contention for legitimacy, while their population over the entire range is largely unknown with most records only vaguely and subjectively of local ranges (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). Hopefully there will be more research into the entire population of these birds in the near future, which would be essential for understanding the population density, gene flow and would help establish better conservational classification for the species.

Distribution map of A.subcristata (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001)

FERGUSON-LEES, J. & CHRISTIE, D. A. 2001. Raptors of the world, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.