Where is the kookaburra bird from

Contents What is a Kookaburra? What does a Kookaburra Sound Like? Where do Kookaburras Live? What do Kookaburras Eat?

It is a stocky bird with a bird-call that sounds like human laughter. For this reason, its other names are Laughing Kookaburra and Laughing Jackass. A group of kookaburras is called a riot because they sound like a crowd of noisy humans.

The word kookaburra came from the Australian Aborigine word guuguubarra and was derived from the sound the bird makes. It is pronounced cook-a-bar-ra. Kookaburras lives in eucalyptus forests throughout eastern Australia. The kookaburra flies slowly to conserve energy. It also lowers its metabolism and body temperature at night to save energy.

Male and female kookaburra are similar in appearance. The female is a bit larger. Even though the kookaburra is a kingfisher bird, it doesn't fish much. However, it uses the same perch and pounce tactics used by kingfishers to catch its prey and fly back to its perch.

Its diet consists of large insects, frogs, fish, crabs, and crayfish. It also eats small animals, other birds. It loves eating small snakes. It bashes large prey such as snakes and lizards against a branch to kill them.

The kookaburra has very strong neck muscles, compared to other birds, because of this bashing behaviour. Kookaburras don't drink much water; they get all they need from their food. But they love to bathe in water. Kookaburras are monogamous. They pair for life. They can become quite tame around humans. Older Kookaburras are most vulnerable to airborne predators. Young chicks also fall prey to quolls, goannas and snakes. A kookaburra held alone in captivity will not laugh.

A kookaburra lives for years. Kookaburra Loves to Eat Snakes The way it eats snakes is neat. Photo: Kookaburra in flight. They have adapted well to human development and often inhabit suburban areas, which provide both food and shelter.

All rights reserved. Common Name: Laughing Kookaburra. Scientific Name: Dacelo novaeguineae. Type: Birds. Diet: Carnivore. Size: 15 to 18 inches. Weight: 13 to 16 ounces. Size relative to a 6-ft man:. Least concern. Least Concern Extinct.

Current Population Trend: Stable. The Blue-winged Kookaburra of northern Australia makes a call described more like a harsh, cackling scream or even maniacal barking. They have a much brighter colouration, with light coloured eyes, and are more top-heavy with broader showers and a larger beak than the considerably shyer cousin the Laughing Kookaburra.

There are differences in appearance between male and females with a blue tail in the male, and a rufous tail reddish-brown or brownish-red with blackish bars in the female.

Immature birds have more prominent brown bars and marks in their plumage, giving a "dirty" appearance, and their eyes are predominantly brown for the first two years of life. Blue-winged Kookaburras can be found in tropical and subtropical open woodlands, grasslands, paperbark swamps, timber on watercourses, clearings, farmlands, parks and gardens of northern Australia.

They hunt and eat a great variety of animals that live on or close to the ground. They appear to hunt a high proportion of snakes, possibly because these are more common in the tropics.

They also eat smail reptiles, frogs, insects and other invertebrates. Before taking prey, they're seized with the bill after a gliding flight. When deemed a suitable size, prey is then taken on the ground by hunting from a perch. Kookaburras can be seen beating their food against a perch area. This is to help breakup the bones and tendons, as well as tendering the food for easier digestion.

Blue-winged Kookaburras have suffered from loss of habitat resulting from land clearing, and are often killed on roads as adult birds are slow flyers and vulnerable to being hit by cars on country roads. The red goshawk and rufous owl prey upon the blue-winged kookaburra. This comical bird is easily recognisable both in appearance and sound. The Laughing Kookaburra measures around 43 — 45 centimetres 17 — 18 inches in length and weighs around 0.

Males have a small patch of blue-green feathers in the centre of the rump that is reduced or absent in the female. The laughing kookaburra is a thick-set bird who has a large head and short, thick neck.

Laughing kookaburras have prominent brown eyes with dark brown stripes extending through them. Their back and wings are brown and they have blue shoulder spots.

Laughing kookaburras have longish tails that are rusty red in colour with dark brown barring and white feather tips. Laughing kookabuuras occupy forests and woodlands or where there are suitable trees, usually in loose family groups.

They are also found in orchards, parkland, partially timbered farmland and even suburbs and towns. Laughing Kookaburras are carnivores and their diet includes small birds, frogs, insects, small mammals and lizards such as geckos. They have even been known to catch venomous snakes much larger than themselves. They catch their prey by waiting patiently for prey to pass by and then swooping down from their high perches and grabbing their food and crushing it in their strong beaks.