Posts Tagged ‘Kookaburras’

Kookaburras

Kookaburra

• Kookaburras use their laughing call to defend their territories and guard their mates.
• Their laugh is one of the most familiar sounds of the Australian bush.
• Early European settlers in Australia called them the “settlers’ clock”, because of their loud laughing choruses every morning.
• They are common around picnic areas, where they can steal food from unguarded tables – or even right off the grill.
• They can catch and kill snakes in the bush.
• In urban areas they also hunt mice and rats.
• They can live for more than 20 years and have the same mate for life.
• Young kookaburras stay with the family for several years. Family groups of more than 6 are common.
• Their greatest threat in surburbia is from the loss of trees due to development.

Check out our selection of great kookaburra plush toys, pewter figurines and pins – click here to purchase kookaburra products.

We live in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, there’s a lot of bushland, lots of trees and therefore a lot of wild birds. Here’s a few pictures of kookaburras gathering in the backyard.

Our Backyard Buddies (Kookaburras)

Wild Kookaburra Sitting In A Tree

Nan Feeding a Kookaburra on the verandah

They definitely live up to their laughing reputation, some mornings it’s a little like having a large group of roosters to wake up to as they make their famous laughing call.

Kookaburras have always been pretty friendly, they’ve picked up spiders and other things for food from the yard and have actually gotten quite close to us – not so close you can touch them but my grandmother used to be able to get right near them and have them eat out of her hand which was really exciting to see. One day when Nan was feeding a kookaburra, it actually spat a funnel web spider out in front her that it had picked up to eat from the yard – you can believe she was shocked!

Kookaburras come from the Kingfisher family and are found in both Australia and New Guinea. They are extremely well known Australia wide and can be found as the subject of songs, coins and postage stamps as well as forming part of business logos and names.