Bird Guide

African Cuckoo-Hawk vs Jerdon's Baza

African Cuckoo-Hawk (Aviceda cuculoides)

African Cuckoo-Hawk

Aviceda cuculoides

Medium277 gForest

The African cuckoo-hawk weighs 220–296 grams (0.48–0.65 lb) and has a wingspan of 91 cm (35 inches). The male is blackish-brown above with a grey mantle and chest with a blackish crest, the underparts are white marked with broad chestnut bars. The tail is black with three grey bars and grey and white tip. The females are browner with paler chestnut bars on the underparts. Distinctive in flight as a small raptor with a small head with broad, narrowly rounded wings and a medium length tail. Wingspan is just over double the body length, females are slightly larger than males.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Neil Crawford from Sweden · CC BY 2.0
Jerdon's Baza (Aviceda jerdoni)

Jerdon's Baza

Aviceda jerdoni

Large363 gForest

It is about 41–48 cm long with a wingspan of 117 cm (46 in). The bird weighs around 350 grams (.77 lb). It is confusable with crested goshawk or the changeable hawk-eagle in flight, but can be distinguished by the longer upright crest, very broad and rounded paddle-shaped wings and mostly plain and pale underparts. It has a white chin and a bold black mesial stripe. Several subspecies are recognized within its large distribution range. These include: A. j. jerdoni (Blyth, 1842) – Sikkim to Assam, Burma, Sumatra A. j. ceylonensis (Legge, 1876) – South India and Sri Lanka A. j.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Mark Clarke · CC BY 4.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: African Cuckoo-Hawk and Jerdon's Baza.