Black Baza

First thing this morning we were treated to a spectacular black baza extravaganza, with up to four birds flying around the forest canopy hunting. They prey on large insects, lizards and occasionally small birds high up in the canopy and have an odd way of flying for a raptor, which has been described as similar to crows but I prefer to call it butterfly like! Fortunately Vinod had taken me to a good vantage point where we had an unobstructed view over the tops of the trees.

According to Vinod this is very much an early morning experience. I'm not sure why that would be, but certainly they seemed to disappear after about 8:30am. Perhaps they just feed in a different way later in the day and are not so obvious. I have read that they also prey on insects and lizards on the ground, at which times they would be quite unobtrusive. 

Baza are a family of sensational and enigmatic tropical raptors, very much sought after by birdwatchers. There are five species, two in Africa and three in Asia. I've been fortunate enough to have now seen two species, these black baza and Pacific baza in tropical Australia in 2018. In a holiday of many fabulous experiences this ranks as one of the very best.

What a bird!

Three dollar birds also flew over and a drongo cuckoo perched high in a tree. Also seen but not photographed, male Indian Paradise Flycatcher of the rufous form, black-naped monarch, red spurfowl and large cuckoo-shrike.

Drongo cuckoo.