Category Archives: Kookaburra
Juvenile kookaburra fancies hibiscus flower
This is a juvenile kookaburra that came across a hibiscus flower in my garden. Hibiscus is not native to Australia, so this big pink flower is not something kookaburras encounter often. Still, this youngster decided to carry the flower around for a while, because, hey, it was in his world.
Kookaburras and leafhopper egg sack
A few weeks ago I wrote about the true bug that laid a clutch of eggs on my wall, and the hatching of those eggs into cute little leafhoppers. Yesterday I took a picture of two kookaburras high in a tree, because I thought the angle was cute:
As well as the underside of the kookaburra beaks and their beady eyes, looking more closely, you can see…
Yes, an egg sack that looks just like the one on my wall. The two kookaburras and the egg sack were high, high up in a gum tree. Someday soon, tiny little critturs like these will hatch. I bet the mother bug wasn’t aware that two such fearsome beaks would be in close proximity to her brood!
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 24 December 2018 (Summer)
Location: Manly Dam Nature Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’56.2″S 151°15’22.5″E
Kookaburra baby cackling and feeding
The kookaburras around our neighbourhood are very noisy at the moment. A couple of juveniles drop by regularly to practise their cackling skills. They’re cute and funny.
In this video, you can see one youngster crooning to himself, and another behind the branches. In the background, other birds chime in to show him how it’s done. A parent comes by a couple of times too, to feed the ever-demanding little one.
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 31 December 2016
Season: Summer
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
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
Kookaburra pair swaying in the wind
Kookaburras have an endearing habit of swaying back and forth when sitting on a branch. Today a pair sat cosily together on a branch, chewing the breeze. It’s soothing to watch their synchronised swaying.
For a giggle, here’s a short extract from the above video showing my favourite bit:
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 23 August 2016
Season: Winter
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’13.9″S 151°15’39.2″E
Funny-faced kookaburra
Kookaburras are gorgeous, but sometimes they can look a little goofy.
Here’s the whole bird:
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 6 August 2016
Season: Winter
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’55.4″S 151°15’10.3″E
Kookaburra enjoying the winter sunshine
It’s been very very wet and very very cold in Sydney over the last few weeks. This morning the mists cleared, the rain stopped, and Sydney-siders ventured out to enjoy the sunshine. This kookaburra grabbed a spot in the sun on a moss-covered electricity pole.
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 10 July 2016
Season: Winter
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’35.7″S 151°15’25.6″E
Jaded Kookaburra
I spent a fair bit of time today watching this kookaburra, hoping it would burst out laughing. (It’s my dream to video one of them laughing.) Instead, she just watched me back. I think this bird is a female, because she has only a small amount of blue marking on her wings, and none on her tail.
Her rear view makes me giggle, with that top knot of feathers:
And the other profile:
I think she’s wishing I’d fade into the sunset:
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 14 December 2014
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam National Park, Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’37.4″S 151°14’50.1″E
Kookaburra bookends
This pretty pair of kookaburras perched outside my window yesterday morning.
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 13 September 2014
Season: Spring
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’07.9″S, 151°15’27.5″E
Sydney Birder 