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General Information
 Description:
Kookaburras are members of the Kingfisher family.
There are 2 types of Kookaburras - the Blue Winged Kookaburra which
differs from the Laughing Kookaburra in that it has bigger, brighter metallic
blue wing markings and its call is a lot higher
pitched trilling sound. It does not have a dark streak through its
eye. Its 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 .
The other Kookaburra is the Laughing Kookaburra
or Laughing Jackass as it is also called, which is the largest member
of the family. It a stocky bird about 46cm long, weighing approximately 5
kg with a big square head and really huge beak. Kookaburras can live 20
years or more. The Laughing Kookaburra is mostly coloured brown with some
black barring on its wing and tail feathers. Its fluffy head and chest are
whitish, grey colour and a small amount of bright blue can be seen on
its wings too.
Voice:
The Laughing Kookaburra is named because its strange voice sounds like
a person laughing. That is why it is called a Laughing Kookaburra. They get really noisy when
arguing with each other about who is in someone else's territory.
Early in the morning , just before dawn, and in the late afternoon, at
sunset, the Laughing Kookaburra can be heard singing its loudest. Usually
the whole family laughs together telling other Kookaburras to stay
away from their territory. It is thought they have about 6 different calls,
each one signalling something different to the family or to intruders.
The Blue-winged Kookaburra has a call
which sounds like a barking cough and like the Laughing Kookaburra,
welcomes the sun in the morning but with a call which sounds a little like 'Ow
Ow Ow'.
Habitat:
The Laughing Kookaburra is mostly found in the bushlands of Eastern
Australia. The Blue-Winged Kookaburra is found in wetter region of coastal
Northern Australia where they live in forests and woodlands. They may also
be found on the edge of some swamps.
The Laughing Kookaburras
live in forests, woodlands and many suburban areas. At our school they are quite tame and sit
on the school railings while children walk quite close to them.
 Food:
Blue Winged Kookaburras eat fish , freshwater crayfish , frogs , waterworms
and small crabs.
Laughing
Kookaburras live on a diet of
lizards, insects, mice, rats and other rodents, snakes, earthworms, fish ,
frogs and toads and other small mammals. They dive onto their
prey. Kookaburras don't drink water as they get all the moisture they need
from their food. Kookaburras are fierce hunters and have keen eyesight, when
they catch their prey they will beat it against a log or rock to kill , then
pound it with their beak to soften the meat making it easier to eat. The
Kookaburra eats its prey whole sometimes having to rest for lengths of time
waiting for the first half of the animal to be digested so the 2nd half can
be swallowed.The Kookaburra will regurgitate food and store it in the nest
for future meals.
Breeding:
Kookaburras live in family groups , together they look after their bush
territory, defending it from all other birds . The family often sit together
on a tree branch and when they need to chase away trespassers they do so by
criss-crossing over each other in flight.
Kookaburras build nests in hollow trees or a termite mound, which protects
the nest from predators. The female lays 2 - 4 pure white eggs in the
hollow of a tree. The eggs are laid a day apart, and they take from 24 to 26
days to hatch. The chicks are fed for about a month before they can fly and
another month before they can care for themselve. The young Kookaburra may stay in the family for several
years, helping to raise and
protect new members to the family. This is unusual, as most birds leave the
nest in search of mates
and territory once they are old enough to fly.
Reference:
Information - Internet sites
Photo
- Australian Wildlife -
Kookaburras & Kingfishers
Photo Wayne Reed
P hotos:
G.Crew
Some information and pictures were taken from children's charts and
where credited to that child does not claim to be original information.
Where possible, permission to reproduce has been sought and ownership
credited. Any infringement of copyright is purely unintentional and
ownership of pictures and information used is freely acknowledged.
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