Kookaburras cranking up for a cackle
You’ve probably heard kookaburras in full voice, cackling and hooting raucously. I think the sound they make when they’re preparing for a full-voice yodel is funny and cute. It happens in particular when there’s a group of birds. They chunter at each other, perhaps in warning or perhaps companionably. They sound a bit like rusty saws in a dusty attic.
These two were in a tree high above my lounge window:
I encountered this disreputable, slightly dangerous looking character deep in the bush:
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted (second video): 26 December 2016
Season: Summer
Location (second video): Manly Dam Nature Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’50.4″S 151°14’59.6″E
Posted on 2016/12/27, in Birds, Kookaburra and tagged australia, birds, birdsong, birdwatching, Kookaburras, laughing kookaburra. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Sydney Birder 
That kookaburra in the second video certainly looks mean! And it sounds like baby kookies off camera in a nearby tree in the first video. We’ve got a kookaburra family with 2 babies at our place and it’s been quite noisy at times! 🙂
Hallo Sue
Hah, so you call them kookies too. 🙂 The babies are so funny when they practise laughing, sotto voce.
Cheers
Sarah