The Pacific Baza (pronounced Barza - NOT Bazza) used to be known as Crested Hawk, an appropriate name from an Australian point of view, but world-wide, there are other hawks with crests, so we now follow international usage. In Australia they occur around the edges of rainforest and in riverine woodland, all the way down the east coast as far as the Victorian border, and in northern Australia as far as Broome in W.A.

Bazas are forest frequenting birds and do most of their hunting in the tree canopies. Stick insects, tree frogs, small reptiles and nestling birds are amongst their prey. Typically they sit quietly in a tree, scanning all around for a minute or so, then move a few metres to another perch and repeat the process. They also hunt by flying low above and amongst the canopy.They are often hassled by Noisy Miners who treat them as a raptor but they would rarely attack an adult miner - maybe they occasionally find a miner's nest with young.

Bazas are fairly inconspicuous except when they circle high in the air and repeatedly utter their distinctive calls - "eeechoo ..eeechoo". Listen on sound page.