Jane Grows Garden Rooms

Eleven things that you may not know about the Laughing Kookaburra

Photo — Two Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguinaceae) by Author

This morning I heard one of the sounds of Summer. Laughing Kookaburra fledglings learning to laugh. You can hear it too! I recorded it and put it on YouTube.

https://janegrowsgardenrooms.wordpress.com/media/9de4953e255e36419b63bcaab1bda8b1

Here’s some things you may not know about this iconic bird.

1. Every family has its own laugh to identify each other and maintain territorial boundaries.
2. The young Laughing Kookaburras stay “home” for up to two years taking a share of the parenting duties.
3. Laughing Kookaburras usually lay 2–4 eggs but only 2 survive due to aggression from other nestlings. The strongest 2 will usually eject weaker siblings before the nesting period is over resulting in a survival rate of around 50% for the third sibling. Harsh!
4. Females have a brown back under their wings and males have a blue back.
5. Kookaburras are believed to partner for life.
6. Laughing Kookaburras nest in hollows.
7. They are named after the sound they make. In the language of Indigenous Australians it is pronounced Goo-goo-burra.
8. Some Indigenous Australians believe that the Kookaburra was told to laugh each morning to wake up humans so that they didn’t miss beautiful sunrises.
9. They are the largest Kingfishers in the world but they rarely eat fish. They eat insects small reptiles and small mammals and marsupials. Kookaburras are snake hunters. They puck them up behind the head and drop them from a high branch until they are dead. They then slurp them up like spaghetti. Many people believe Kookaburras around a home keep the area snake-free.
10. They were introduced to Tasmania and Western Australia where they are now invasive pests taking nesting hollows and competing for resources with other bird species.
11. There is another species known as the Blue-winged Kookaburra which has a softer laugh.

We feel so lucky to have these birds visit us all the time. Our local family has a matriarch that is fearsome! No one in the family crosses her. She is the first to eat and will push others out of her way. She has a dark brown mask so we call her Zorro.

---

Like to motivate Jane to keep writing? Buy her a coffee using this link. Or help her monetise her YouTube channel by subscribing and/or watching some of her videos.