Species Fact Profile: Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaguineae)

                                                              Laughing Kookaburra

                                                       Dacelo novaguineae (Hermann, 1783)

Range: Eastern Australia.  Introduced to Western Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand. 

Habitat:  Dry Eucalypt Forest, Woodland.  Most common where understory is sparse, grassy

Diet: Lizards, Insects, Worms, Snakes, Rodents, Crayfish, and Fish

Social Grouping:  Breeding pairs, accompanied by as many as five fully-grown, non-breeding offspring from previous clutches, which will stay with their parents to help defend the territory and raise their younger siblings.

Reproduction:  Monogamous, generally for life.   Breeding season starts in August, peaking in September, going through November (if first nesting attempt fails, they may start again).  Nest in unlined tree cavities or in holes excavated in arboreal termite nests.  Clutch typically consists of three glossy white eggs.  Both parents incubate eggs for 24-29 days.  Fledge at 32-40 days, female chicks disperse at 1-2 years of age, male chicks at 2-4 years

Lifespan: 20-30 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

• Largest species of kingfisher (larger than the giant kingfisher).  Body length 41-47 centimeters.  Females larger, weigh average of 350 grams (but up to 465), versus average of 300 (but up to 450) for males.  Large head with a long, robust bill.  There is a prominent bony ridge at the back of the skull with strong muscles in the neck to aid in killing prey.  Legs are relatively short, weak
• Sexes look alike 9though females often have less blue on their rump).  Upperparts dark brown with some mottled light-blue patching on the wing coverts.  Underparts creamy white.  Tail barred with rufous and black.  Dark brown striped behind each eye.  Eyes are large and brown.  Juveniles are slightly darker than adults when they first grow feathers, but have adult plumage by the time they are about 3 months old
• Territorial call is a distinctive laugh, starting as a low, hiccupping chuckle before picking up volume and intensity, often with several birds calling at the same time (widely used as stock sound effect for jungle movies).  Calls most frequently heard at dawn, dusk, hence their nickname of “the bushman’s clock”)
• Species is sedentary and non-migratory.  Occur at densities of 0.04-0.8 birds per hectare.  Territories mostly marked through calls, will engage in heavily ritualized flight displays to avoid actual physical combat with rivals and neighbors
• Prey is usually swooped down upon from a perch.  Prey is often subdued or killed by being repeatedly bashed against the bird’s perch.  Indigestible components of the diet are regurgitated as a cast
• Predators include large owls and diurnal raptors, while chicks and incubating birds are vulnerable to pythons, varanids, and quolls.  Introduced foxes and cats may also predate adults.  Significant source of mortality is collision with cars
• Name comes from the Wiradhuri name for this species, gugubarra
• Despite scientific name, not found in New Guinea.  First described and illustrated by the French naturalist and explorer Pierre Sonnerat in this narrative Voyage a la nouvelle Guinee, published in 1776 but probably described based on a specimen provided by a naturalist from the Cook Expedition
• Two subspecies recognized – the nominate in eastern Australia (also the subspecies introduced outside of the range), and D. n. minor, in the Cape York Peninsula, which is smaller in size.  All birds in US zoos are of the nominate subspecies
• Commonly encountered in parks, gardens, even urban areas.  Can become very tame, even taking food from people’s hands and allowing their bellies to be rubbed (there are some problems with scavenging from humans, such as stealing hamburgers off of grills, resulting in incomplete, unhealthy diets)
• Commonly known through the 1932 nursery rhyme “Kookaburra,” written by Marion Sinclair (“Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree…”).  Species is widely depicted in Australian culture, including on stamps, currency, and as a sport mascot (one of the mascots of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, held in Sydney)

Zookeeper's Journal: I remember a few years back, uncrating a newly arrived kookaburra at our zoo.  It was the first of its species to ever be housed there, and one of the keepers, who was assisting me as I settled it into quarantine, had never seen one before.  When he did, he was not impressed - "the ugliest bird ever" is how he described it.  I thought he was being pretty harsh.  Granted, I never thought of kooks as especially pretty birds - something about their oversized beak and their seemingly-smirking face - but it's not their shape or plumage you remember when meeting one.  It's their voice.  That roiling, wild laughter has made them the living soundtrack of many Australian exhibits, and one of the most memorable of all zoo vocalizations.  Even though I know it's usually wildly out of place, whenever I watch a jungle movie set in Africa or South America and hear that distinctive cry in the background, I never fail to smile... and then scowl and complain about the lack of geographic accuracy