The Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) is a distinctive large, noisy bird native to the woodlands and forests of eastern Australia. It is the world’s largest kingfisher and one of Australia’s most familiar birds, well known for its laughing call. Find out more!

Laughing kookabuuras occupy forests and woodlands or where there are suitable trees, usually in loose family groups. They are also found in orchards, parkland, partially timbered farmland and even suburbs and towns.

Laughing Kookaburras are carnivores and their diet includes small birds, frogs, insects, small mammals and lizards such as geckos. They have even been known to catch venomous snakes much larger than themselves.

Like all kingfishers, laughing kookaburras employ a ‘sit and wait’ technique of hunting. They catch their prey by waiting patiently for prey to pass by and then swooping down from their high perches and grabbing their food and crushing it in their strong beaks.

Small prey is eaten whole, however, larger prey is killed by being bashed against the ground or a tree probably to tenderise the meat. The kookaburra does not drink any water as it gets enough water from the food it eats.

Laughing Kookaburras spend most of their day perched in high branches overlooking rainforest clearings watching for prey. They are territorial birds and their loud dawn and dusk calls warn all surrounding birds that they are ready to defend their territories.

They begin with a a repeated ‘kook-kook-kook-ka-ka-ka’ call that rises and falls in volume as family members join in and then they throw their heads back into a loud chorus of boisterous laughter.