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The Laughing Kookaburra is perhaps the one bird that any Australian or visitor to Australia, associates with this country.
Their characteristic call, beginning with a subdued cackle and developing into a loud,raucous laugh,is never forgotton
once heard. In fact the Kookaburra call is never by one bird, but in concert with at least one or two others.
During its
call or laugh the bird lifts its beak up while its body shakes.
The picture at left shows a Kookaburra in the stick posture.It assumes this position when overflown by a larger bird such
as an Eagle or even an aeroplane. The posture gives it camouflage from the air.
Like the Currawong ,the Kookaburra is part of a tribe,consisting of the main mating pair plus a collection of off-spring.Mating
also occurs with the off-spring of previous broods.
If you feed a Kookaburra- its favourite food seems to be fish or
meat- it will show no fear near you and is quite happy to interact with human beings.
The normal food it will seek out is live and includes small snakes,lizards,worms.After capturing its live prey it will
hold it in its beak and bash the life out of it against the tree branch. I once was eating fish and chips in a park and gave
a nearby Kookaburra the remainder of my chips.As the chips were long and vaguely snake -looking, the bird would bash each
chip against a branch before eating. I have watched a Kookaburra dive from a tree branch almost a dead weight and land head
first with its beak stuck into the ground.When it pulled its beak out it contained a juicy worm. As you can guess,its head,beak
and neck are very powerful and the first time you see a Kookaburra up close is a bit daunting until you get to know them and
realize that they are quite friendly.
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