The Laughing Kookaburra

in #nature7 years ago

Kookaburras are the largest birds of the Kingfisher family. This one is the Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae. It occurs naturally in eastern Australia and it was also introduced to other areas, including Tasmania, due to it's reputation for killing snakes. It's diet includes snakes, lizards, rodents, insects etc. If you were brought up in Australia or Britain, you probably sang this song at school:

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry merry king of the bush is he.

Indeed, they are often seen perched on a limb of an old Gum Tree.

( All photos, videos, and text on this blog are by @mostly.nature )

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HR

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@mostly.nature - Very nice pictures of the Kookaburra. I have photographed some Kingfisher species but have not even seen a Kookaburra. Your pictures are sharp and are a pleasure to see. Upvoted

Regards,
vm2904

I miss the southern kookaburra sound. I live in the tropics of Australia. Originally from Northern NSW.

Yes it's an awesome sound. I was out of the country for quite a few years and came across a Kookaburra at a wildlife park (in Scotland). The call certainly made me homesick :-)

I keep wondering who choose the name of things! Some of them make no sense! If I ever find a new specie of flora or fauna I will put a really weird name or a funny one 😅

It is an onomatopoeic name given to it by the Australian aboriginals :-)

it's beak is not that long and i see it eats insects. :)
The white collard kingfisher i shot in my area at first confused me. because there's no fish there. then i saw it catch insects. :)

This one would rarely eat fish. It's more a bird of the forest.

Laughing kookaburras ar a standard sight in residential district gardens and concrete settings, even in settled areas, and ar therefore tame that they're going to typically eat of their hands. it's not uncommon for kookaburras to grab food out of people's hands all of sudden.

Yes they can become tame at popular picnic places but these ones were not tame at all.

The pictures all of them mostly nature, just like your account's name. Lol. Great pictures and what a beautiful bird. I have never seen this type of bird before. As you know, where does usually Kookaburra live? Whether on a limb or inside a trunk? Thank you for nice post.

When they nest they make their nest in tree hollows.

Very nice shots! I like how sharp it is. What is your equipment?

Thanks. These were taken with a Canon 7D / 300D and the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L lens.

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