For the past month, I’ve been watching a termite nest that housed two Laughing Kookaburra chicks. The kookaburra parents had set up house in an old termite nest in a dead tree. The sound of the chicks crooning drew me to the tree on November 21st. The chicks were still very young, and it wasn’t possible to see them. But after waiting around a while, I did see the parents bringing food to the nest:

A month later, on December 20th, the chicks were right at the opening of the nest, peering out at the world. This photo shows one of the babies — you can see one eye clearly on the right, then the beak and white bib and the other eye on the left:

Here’s a view of the termite nest at the top of a dead tree. The nest projects from the top the right of the dead trunk, nicely protected by the branches of a living tree:

Here’s one of the parents with a morsel of food — a winged insect of some kind:

By my next visit, on December 23rd, the nest was empty. Both babies were out and about, calling and being fed by the adult birds.

One of the babies was on the ground when I got there, but soon managed to fly up onto a tree branch. The parents were nearby and attentive:

The youngsters are a bit smaller than the adults, and more fluffy. Their feathers aren’t yet fully developed, especially on the head and wings, and the tails are noticeably shorter.

The other youngster was on a nearby branch, also crooning:

This photo shows the youngster’s short tail:

To close off, here’s the same youngster from another angle:

Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length (adult): 47 cm
Date spotted: 21 November to 23 December 2024 (summer)
Location: Manly Dam near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia