Laughing Kookaburra

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*This page is under renovation and all information may not be up-to-date or complete*

Description

The laughing kookaburra is the largest member of the kingfisher family. Typically, kingfishers have bright blue or green feathers and are specialized in hunting fish. However, the laughing kookaburra has mostly brown and white feathers with some light blue across their wings and eats other types of prey.

Laughing kookaburras have beige or white feathers around their head and chest with brown wings and back feathers. They have brown stripes next to their eyes, like a mask. Their heavy beaks are boat-shaped. Both males and females have rusty red colored tails with black bars and white tips. It can be challenging to differentiate between male and female laughing kookaburras, but males often have blue areas over the base of their tail and females are slightly larger in size.

Range & Habitat

Laughing kookaburras live in woodlands, forests, farmlands, and even towns in eastern and southwestern Australia, Tasmania, as well as Auckland, New Zealand.

Behavior

Laughing kookaburras are highly territorial. Though their calls sound like laughter, they actually function to declare their territory and warn other birds to stay away. Families of kookaburras maintain their territory year-round, nesting in hollow trees, tree-dwelling termite nests, or even crevices of buildings.

Young birds stay with their parents for up to four years after fledging, or developing their flight feathers. They learn how to become parents by helping raise their younger siblings.

Diet

Laughing kookaburras eat a varied diet of insects, worms, snakes, frogs, rodents, or birds. In fact, adults can prey on snakes up to 3 feet in length!

Conservation

The laughing kookaburra is considered to be a species of Least Concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, their populations have declined rapidly in recent years due to the increasing severity of wildfires and removal of older trees with nesting hollows.

Fun Facts

• Olly the kookaburra was a mascot for the 2000 Olympic Games hosted in Sydney, Australia.
• Their call sounds like a variety of trills, chortles, belly laughs and hoots. It starts and ends with a low chuckle and has a shrieking “laugh” in the middle.

Virginia Zoo Animals

Males: Shrimp (hatched: 4/8/2011) & Bruce (hatched: 5/7/2017; lives behind the scenes)

Female: Barbie (hatched: 10/8/2006)