Aviceda madagascariensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The Madagascar cuckoo-hawk (Aviceda madagascariensis), also known as the Madagascar baza or the Madagascan cuckoo falcon, is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Madagascar. The adult Madagascar cuckoo-hawk has dark brown upperparts which are paler on the head and an off white rump. The underparts are white with the breast and upper breast and sides of the lower breast are heavily streaked with brown, these streaks becoming finer on the flanks, The tail has two narrow, pale bars and a pale tip. The underwing coverts are heavily barred with brown while the flight feathers have broad dark bands on their underside. At rest there is a short crest which projects from the rear crown. The juvenile is darker than the adult with white tips to the feathers obvious against the dark upperparts. Males and females are similar in size with a length of 300 mm (12 in) and a wingspan of 850 mm (33 in).
The bird is endemic to Madagascar where it is reasonably common in the west, the north, and the east of the island. However, it is rather uncommon in the south and on the Central Plateau. In Madagascar this species is... Wikipedia →
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Madagascar · 2010
© Louise Jasper · XC88216 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Berenty Reserve | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 3 | Ranomafana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 4 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Cuckoo-Hawk sighting in Ranomafana National Park on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 77th most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, July and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Cuckoo-Hawk in Ranomafana National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May, August–October and December, the lowest months. January and June have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Madagascar Cuckoo-Hawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Madagascar Cuckoo-Hawk sightings, Ranomafana National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Mantadia National Park (Madagascar, about 10%) and Berenty Reserve (Madagascar, about 10%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Madagascar Cuckoo-Hawk that you can see in Ranomafana National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Madagascar Buzzard (about 40%) and Black Kite (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Madagascar Cuckoo-Hawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Ranomafana National Park (33 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
