What is a laughing kookaburra?
The laughing kookaburra is the largest of the kingfisher group of birds. The scientific name for laughing kookaburras is Dacelo novaeguineae. The laughing kookaburra is called guganigine by the Darug people of the Sydney basin.
Laughing kookaburras are a squat bodied bird with a large head and a long beak. These kookaburras have mostly dark brown backs and wings with a cream white underbelly. Their wings have light blue feathers on their leading edges whilst their tails are barred brown and cream white. They can grow up to 45 centimetres in length. Laughing kookaburras are easily distinguished from other species of kookaburra by a very noticeable dark brown eye-stripe through their face.
What do laughing kookaburras sound like?
Laughing kookaburras are most well known for their unique call. Their call sounds like a laugh which is where their name, laughing kookaburra, comes from. The familiar call of these territorial birds is a loud ‘koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-kaa-kaa-kaa’ often sung in a chorus with other related laughing kookaburras.
Where do laughing kookaburras live?
Laughing kookaburras are native to eastern Australia. They are most commonly found in eucalypt forests within their range as they require these forests with their tall trees, shrubs and ground cover layer to find their food, to roost and to nest.
What do laughing kookaburras eat?
Laughing kookaburras are carnivorous and use their strong large beaks to catch a wide variety of prey. They will eat small snakes, lizards, fish, small birds, rodents, worms and insects.
Laughing kookaburras use the 'wait-and-pounce' method of hunting. They position themselves on a branch with a view of the ground and wait for their prey item to appear. Generally these kookaburras drop down, wings back and grab their prey with their strong beaks. Prey animals are killed by hitting them on branch or rock. This also softens alrger prey items before swallowing.
What adaptations do laughing kookaburras have?
Laughing kookaburras have adaptations that allow them to survive in forest environments. Most of these adaptations assist them in their preferred wait-and-pounce method of hunting within their habitat.
Their colouration, along with their habit of sitting very still, allows them to camouflage with their forest background making them almost invisible to their prey. They have thick feathers compared to other similar sized birds which keep them warmer whilst they wait motionless for their prey. Their forward facing toes are fused for part of their length so that they can sit for losing periods of time.
Laughing kookaburras have superb vision for being able to see their prey from above and accurately fly down to catch it.
Along with their strong beak they also have a strong skull and large neck muscles that allow them to hit their prey against a hard surface to kill and soften it before eating.
How do laughing kookaburras reproduce?
The dominant pair of laughing kookaburras in a territory will mate for life. These birds use tree hollows for nesting, or in some areas they create hollows in the unused section of termite nests located in trees.
In spring or summer laughing kookaburras lay up to three eggs. It takes between 24 and 29 days for the eggs to hatch. The extended family assist the parents in incubating the eggs, catching prey and defending and feeding the young. The family group will continue to feed the chicks for up to 40 days after they leave the nest.
What threats do laughing kookaburras face?
The conservation status of laughing kookaburras in New South Wales is currently secure, mostly because they have a wide distribution.
Laughing kookaburras face threats from humans such as habitat loss through land clearing for forestry, farming or housing estates. In particular, the large old trees with nesting hollows for nesting are valuable hardwood timber trees. Providing artificial nesting sites such as timber nesting boxes may assist laughing kookaburra populations.
Intense bushfires can also destroy the habitat of laughing kookaburras.
The use of insecticides and rodent poisons are hazardous to laughing kookaburras as they remain in the target animal and can be fatal to these carnivorous birds.
