 
Kookaburras are terrestrial birds native to Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. They grow to between 28 and 47 cm in length, and weigh around a third of a kilogram.The name is onomatopoeic of its loud, distinctive laughing call, which has been described as sounding like 'fiendish laughter'. The song is a way the birds advertise their territory, and is also used for finding others, courtship, raising an alarm, showing aggression, and begging for food! The call of the kookaburra is widely used as a stock sound effect in situations that involve an Australian bush setting or tropical jungle, especially in older movies. You've heard it many times! They are found in habitats ranging from humid forest to arid savannah, as well as in suburban areas with tall trees or near running water. Both sexes have a rusty red tail with black bars and white tips. The female is slightly larger than the male. Defending their territory year-round, a monogamous pair of kookaburras lays two clutches of two to four white eggs in its nest in a tree hole. The young often remain with the parents and help raise the next year’s brood. It is diurnal, meaning it is most active in the daytime. They will sleep for about 12 hours at night. Also sometimes called the 'bushman’s clock', the kookaburra is heard very early in the morning and just after sunset. Its beak can reach 4 inches long and is used to snatch a variety of prey. Since being introduced in western Australia and New Zealand, the kookaburra has angered farmers because it will prey on their chickens. 
Kookaburras eat insects, reptiles, frogs, fish, and rodents. They are known for eating snakes, killing a snake up to 1 metre long by grabbing it behind the head and smacking it on the ground. Snakes are sometimes dropped from midair onto the ground for tenderizing! The parent birds often give small snakes to their chicks so they can learn how to kill prey. A kookaburra will sit motionless on a branch and watch for prey to pass by. It can keep its head perfectly still while its body sways with the branch below. When prey is sighted, the kookaburra swoops down and grabs it with its bill. It carries the food back to a perch and beats it several times against the branch to kill and softenit. The food is swallowed head first and whole. The bird seems to thrive in the presence of humans; kookaburras will steal food from picnics, sometimes snatching hot meat right off the barbecue! Adult kookaburras pair for life and use the same nest, found in a tree hole or termite nest, every year. A breeding pair establishes a year-round territory that is also used by four to five of its grown young, who serve as 'helpers'. These helpers do their share of incubating the eggs, keeping the chicks warm, feeding them, and defending their parents’ territory. At about four years of age, the helpers leave to establish their own territories. Kookaburras themselves are preyed upon by large owls, eagles, hawks, and falcons. Chicks and a parent incubating an egg in the nest are vulnerable to pythons and monitor lizards. Other predators include foxes and domestic cats. |