A crested bird of prey, with yellow eyes, white breast with bold, dark-brown bars and tail with dark bars. In flight, undersides of long, paddle-shaped wings show white, conspicuously barred flight feathers. Pairs and family parties are often tame and approachable around camping grounds and suburbs. The bird soars in shallow circles on flat wings, performing spectacular tumbling displays whilst calling. It hunts around leafy trees, plunging into the foilage after prey.
It’s habitat consists of leafy trees in rainforest fringes, open forest and woodland; timbered watercourses and well-treed suburbs. It breeds from October to December and builds nest on flimsy, horizontal and often leafy branch up to 30m high. The Pacific Baza in generally uncommon, sedentary and locally dispersive.
