Black Baza

About the Black Baza

The black baza (Aviceda leuphotes) is a small bird of prey found in the forests of Northeast India, the eastern Himalayas, China and Southeast Asia. Many populations are migratory, including those in the Indian region, which winter in the south of the Peninsula and Sri Lanka. Black bazas have short, stout legs and feet with strong talons, and a prominent crest. They are found in dense forest, often in small groups, and can often be found perched on bare branches of tall trees rising above the forest canopy.

The bird was first described based on a specimen from Pondicherry under the name of Falco leuphotes. Several geographic races have been described including wolfei which is based on a single specimen from Sichuan and may belong to the nominate subspecies. The named forms include the following, but they have been questioned and further study has been called for.

A. l. syama (Hodgson, 1837) from eastern Nepal, northeastern India to south China which winters in Indo-China and the Malaya Peninsula. A. l. leuphotes (Dumont, 1820) was once claimed to breed in South-Western India, but no evidence exists and this is doubtful. It is said to breed in Burma and... Wikipedia →