The head and chest are fluffy and covered with light coloured feathers, the rump and wings are coloured bright blue and it has some brown feathers above its dark blue tail. Australian Wildlife Part 2. Kookaburras Kookaburras can only be found in Australia. There are two types: the laughing kookaburra and the blue-winged kookaburra. The babies are fed by both the mother and father, and stay with their parents for four years.
The blue-winged kookaburra is smaller than its cousin the laughing kookaburra. It starts with a slow chuckle 'oooo' and then builds up to boisterous 'ha ha ha'. The Laughing Kookaburra isn't laughing at all. It is a communal bird call to establish the family unit's territory and warn off other kookaburras. The Kookaburra's laugh is a social behaviour. If a kookaburra is held alone in captivity, without other kookaburras around, it will not laugh. The kookaburra's call is usually heard at dawn and dusk, but it may also be heard at any other time of the day.
Researchers have found that members of a family unit laugh in a similar manner, as though they are all laughing from the same "hymn sheet". The family unit vocalises together like a chorus to amplify their claim to their territory.
If any rival groups are within ear-shot, they too may respond, filling the air with, what sounds to us humans as, a cacophony of raucous laughter. Kookaburras eat lizards, frogs, snakes , small animals, insects, worms, fish, crabs, and even other birds. The kookaburra uses 'perch and pounce' tactics typical of kingfishers. It usually perches on a branch and waits for its prey to pass by. It then swoops down and grabs its victim with its powerful beak.
If the prey is small, the kookaburra will swallow it whole. If its victim is too large to eat whole, the kookaburra bashes it against a hard surface to break it into small consumable chunks. This bashing behaviour has resulted in the kookaburra having such strong neck muscles compared to other birds.
The way it eats snakes is neat. It swoops down and grabs the snake from behind its head and then flies up into the air and drops the snake to kill it. Sometimes it bashes the snake against a branch or rock to kill it and soften it up, or break it up into smaller pieces.
This is an excerpt from the original TrishansOz page written in when Trishan was 9 years old. Kookaburras live in eucalyptus forests and woodlands throughout eastern Australia. They nest in tree hollows or in any hole large enough for an adult bird to nest in. They have adapted well to humans and are frequently found in urban parks and gardens.
The kookaburra is a sedentary territorial bird. That is to say, it marks its territory and lives there year after year. The territory of a family group can range between 16 to hectares depending on the availability of prey in the particular habitat. Birds will honour the domain of another and will not enter it for any reason, even if it means catching a meal in its neighbour's territory.
Kookaburras reach sexual maturity and adulthood at one year of age. They are believed to pair for life. Their nesting season starts in September and finishes in January. The birds nest in a large cavity in a tree trunk or in a hole made in a tree-dwelling termite mound.
The female kookaburra usually lays three eggs days apart. Most kingfishers are brightly colored—often blue or green—and many of them specialize in diving into streams and ponds to catch fish.
The laughing kookaburra, however, is plainly colored and rarely eats fish! It has a light beige or white head and breast with brown wings and back.
The head has a brown stripe like a mask crossing each eye. The beak is heavy and boat-shaped. The male laughing kookaburra often has blue above the base of the tail. Both sexes have a rusty red tail with black bars and white tips. The female is slightly larger than the male. The laughing kookaburra is one of four species of kookaburra; the other three are the blue-winged kookaburra, the spangled kookaburra, and the rufous-bellied kookaburra. It may look fairly drab, but you won't think the laughing kookaburra is ordinary after it opens its beak!
The call sounds like a variety of trills, chortles, belly laughs, and hoots. It starts and ends with a low chuckle and has a shrieking "laugh" in the middle.
The song is a way the birds advertise their territory. Laughing kookaburras are native to woodlands and open forests in Australia , where they perch in large trees and nest in cavities of tree trunks and branches. Laughing Kookaburra — the full story The Laughing Kookaburra is one of the most well-loved birds of our backyards. Be a Backyard Buddy Having a large range of native shrubs and trees in your backyard gives Kookaburras plenty of sticks and leaves to build a nest with.
Kookaburras love: Rummaging through leaf litter and grass in search of grubs, lizards and other creepy crawlies. Building nests within large tree hollows or termite mounds. Frolicking in creeks and rivers to wash their wings and feathers. Try to: Plant plenty of locally native shrubs and trees such as gum trees. Provide a birdbath so that Kookaburras have a place to cool off in the hot sun and get a drink.
Avoid: Feeding Kookaburras by hand, as they might mistake your finger for food and give you a nip. Using pesticides that can poison insects that Kookaburras feed on.
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