---
title: "What the sources say about the Laughing Kookaburra | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "43 claims from the Laughing Kookaburra profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/laughing-kookaburra-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/laughing-kookaburra/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Laughing Kookaburra (*Dacelo novaeguineae*)

> 43 claims from the Laughing Kookaburra profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Laughing Kookaburra](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/laughing-kookaburra/)

## Laughing Kookaburra. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/laughing-kookaburra

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| World's largest kingfisher | the largest member of the kingfisher family and was once called the giant kingfisher |
| the bush's dawn alarm clock | Known as the “bushman’s alarm clock” because it has a very loud call, a laughing kookaburra vocalizes in its family group at dawn and dusk. (note: tagline generalizes 'bushman's' to 'the bush's' for modern voice; same fact.) |
| a snake-smashing hunter | killing a snake up to 3 feet (1 meter) long by grabbing it behind the head and smacking it on the ground |
| Woodland, open and dry forest, parks, and gardens across eastern Australia, with introduced populations in Tasmania, southwestern Australia, and New Zealand | native to woodlands and open forests in Australia ... The bird prefers dry forests with streams but is also commonly found in backyards, parks, and gardens. ... in 1897 it was introduced into the southwest corner of the continent and in 1905 into Tasmania as well. Several attempts were made to import kookaburras into New Zealand, and a population became established around the city of Auckland. (note: 'eastern Australia' and 'New Zealand' from australian-museum-laughing-kookaburra: 'Laughing Kookaburras are found throughout eastern Australia. They have been introduced to Tasmania, the extreme south-west of Western Australia, and New Zealand.') |
| A heavy, boat-shaped bill that grabs a snake behind the head and smashes it against a branch or the ground to kill it. | The beak is heavy and boat-shaped. ... killing a snake up to 3 feet (1 meter) long by grabbing it behind the head and smacking it on the ground |
| The laughing kookaburra is the largest member of the kingfisher family and was once called the giant kingfisher | the largest member of the kingfisher family and was once called the giant kingfisher (note: corroborated by kookaburra-2004: 'Laughing Kookaburras are the largest kingfishers in the world.') |
| It stands 39 to 42 centimetres tall | Height: 15.4 to 16.5 inches (39 to 42 centimeters) |
| weighs 196 to 465 grams, with females slightly heavier than males | Weight: 6.9 to 16.4 ounces (196 to 465 grams); females slightly heavier than males |
| Its lifespan is about 11 years, and up to 15 in zoos | LIFE SPAN 11 years; up to 15 years in zoos |
| Its range covers woodland, open and dry forest, parks, and gardens across eastern Australia | native to woodlands and open forests in Australia ... The bird prefers dry forests with streams but is also commonly found in backyards, parks, and gardens. (note: 'eastern Australia' from australian-museum-laughing-kookaburra: 'Laughing Kookaburras are found throughout eastern Australia.') |
| with introduced populations in Tasmania, the far southwest of Western Australia, and around Auckland, New Zealand | in 1897 it was introduced into the southwest corner of the continent and in 1905 into Tasmania as well. Several attempts were made to import kookaburras into New Zealand, and a population became established around the city of Auckland. |
| the laughing kookaburra rarely eats fish | The laughing kookaburra, however, is plainly colored and rarely eats fish! |
| the bird sits motionless on a perch, keeping its head perfectly still even while its body sways with the branch below, and watches for prey to pass by | a laughing kookaburra sits motionless on a perch and watches for prey to pass by. The bird can keep its head perfectly still while its body sways with the branch below. |
| When it spots something, it swoops down, seizes the animal with its heavy, boat-shaped bill, and carries it back up to a perch | When prey is sighted, the kookaburra swoops down, lands next to it, and grabs it with its bill. It carries the food back to a perch (note: 'boat-shaped' bill description from the same page's physical description: 'The beak is heavy and boat-shaped.') |
| Prey gets beaten several times against the branch or the ground to kill and soften it, then swallowed whole, head first | beats it several times against the branch to kill and soften the prey. The food is swallowed head first and whole. (note: 'or the ground' corroborated by australian-museum-laughing-kookaburra: 'larger prey is killed by bashing it against the ground or tree branch.') |
| A kookaburra can kill a snake up to a metre long by grabbing it behind the head and smacking it against the ground. | killing a snake up to 3 feet (1 meter) long by grabbing it behind the head and smacking it on the ground |
| A breeding pair shares its year-round territory with four to five of its own grown offspring, who act as helpers | A breeding pair establishes a year-round territory that is also used by four to five of its grown young, which serve as helpers. |
| they take turns incubating the eggs, keep the chicks warm, feed their younger siblings, and help defend the family's patch | These helper do their share of incubating the eggs, keeping the chicks warm, feeding their young siblings, and defending their parents’ territory. |
| Chicks hatch blind and featherless but already carry a sharp hooked bill | Laughing kookaburra chicks hatch out naked and with eyes sealed but have a very sharp hook at the end of the bill. |
| the first chick to hatch may turn on its younger siblings, biting and often killing them, especially if food is scarce | The first chick in the nest to hatch may turn on its younger siblings, biting and often killing them, especially if food is scarce. |
| Helpers move on at about four years old to establish territories of their own | At about four years of age, the helpers leave to establish their own territories. |
| No. The call starts and ends with a low chuckle and has a shrieking 'laugh' in the middle, but it is a territorial song: the birds use it to advertise the patch they hold. | It starts and ends with a low chuckle and has a shrieking "laugh" in the middle. The song is a way the birds advertise their territory. |
| Up to about a metre (3 feet) long. Snakes are sometimes dropped from midair onto the ground to tenderise them, and parents often give small snakes to their chicks so the young birds can learn how to kill prey. | killing a snake up to 3 feet (1 meter) long ... Snakes are sometimes dropped from midair onto the ground for tenderizing! The parent birds often give small snakes to their chicks so they can learn how to kill prey. |
| Yes. At about four years of age, helpers leave to establish their own territories. Helpers share incubation and feeding, and every member of the group develops a brood patch: a bare space on the breast with lots of blood vessels for warming the eggs. | All members of the group develop brood patches (a bare space on the breast with lots of blood vessels for warming the eggs). ... At about four years of age, the helpers leave to establish their own territories. (note: 'share incubation and feeding' from 'These helper do their share of incubating the eggs, keeping the chicks warm, feeding their young siblings') |
| a family chorus that starts and ends with a low chuckle and has a shrieking laugh in the middle | It starts and ends with a low chuckle and has a shrieking "laugh" in the middle. (note: vibe.reason, settled in #780: replaces 'unmistakable Australian swagger', which argued from geography) |

## Laughing Kookaburra. Australian Museum.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/laughing-kookaburra/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Mostly insects, worms, and crustaceans, plus snakes, lizards, frogs, and rodents | Laughing Kookaburras feed mostly on insects, worms and crustaceans, although small snakes, mammals, frogs and birds may also be eaten. (note: 'lizards' and 'rodents' from adw-laughing-kookaburra: 'It feeds primarily on snakes, large lizards, worms, snails, insects, fresh water crayfish, frogs, small birds and rodents.' ADW's 'primarily' is overruled by the current Australian Museum 'mostly' list.) |
| The laughing kookaburra's cackling call is instantly recognisable | The Laughing Kookaburra is instantly recognisable in both plumage and voice. |
| it is not laughter. The cackle is a territorial call | The Laughing Kookaburra is not really laughing when it makes its familiar call. The cackle of the Laughing Kookaburra is actually a territorial call to warn other birds to stay away. |
| family groups sing it together at dawn and dusk to warn other birds to stay away | The cackle of the Laughing Kookaburra is actually a territorial call to warn other birds to stay away. (note: family-group dawn and dusk timing from sdz-laughing-kookaburra: 'a laughing kookaburra vocalizes in its family group at dawn and dusk') |
| Most of its diet is insects, worms, and crustaceans | Laughing Kookaburras feed mostly on insects, worms and crustaceans |
| Laughing kookaburras are believed to pair for life | Laughing Kookaburras are believed to pair for life. |
| reuse the same nest hole each year, a hollow in a tree or a burrow dug into an arboreal termite mound | The nest is a bare chamber in a naturally occurring tree hollow or in a burrow excavated in an arboreal (tree-dwelling) termite mound. (note: 'reuse ... each year' from sdz-laughing-kookaburra: 'use the same nest hole, found in a tree hole or arboreal termite nest, each year.') |
| tags: insectivore | Laughing Kookaburras feed mostly on insects, worms and crustaceans (note: #780: kept over carnivore, whose definition is a diet centred on flesh with shearing teeth) |

## Baker (2004). The Chorus Song of Cooperatively Breeding Laughing Kookaburras (Coraciiformes, Halcyonidae: Dacelo novaeguineae): Characterization and Comparison Among Groups. Ethology.

https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1439-0310.2003.00941.x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Each group's chorus appears to carry its own signature | These results suggest that there is group‐specific vocal signature information in the laugh chorus. |
| a researcher who recorded the laugh-song choruses of eight different family groups in Western Australia | I studied vocalizations of laughing kookaburras in Western Australia by sampling the laugh‐song choruses of eight different groups |
| ran the recordings through a statistical test that correctly matched 24 of 25 samples back to the group that produced them | Linear discriminant analysis assigned 24 of the 25 samples to their correct groups. |

## Legge (2000). Helper contributions in the cooperatively breeding laughing kookaburra: feeding young is no laughing matter. Animal Behaviour.

https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2000.1382

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| More helpers do not mean more food for the nest | additional helpers failed to increase overall provisioning |
| as a family group grows, every bird, especially the helpers, actually cuts back its own feeding effort and delivers smaller prey items | all group members, but especially helpers, reduced their feeding contributions as group size increased. Breeders and helpers reduced the size of prey delivered |
| Breeding males brought the most food of anyone in the group | Breeding males delivered the most food. |
| female helpers brought the least | Female helpers contributed the least food. |

## Kookaburra: King of the Bush. CSIRO Publishing, 2004.

https://doi.org/10.1071/9780643091375

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Sibling rivalry in the nest can turn deadly. | Whilst in the nest, chicks fight their siblings for dominance and food so aggressively that the smallest chick is often killed. |

## Dacelo novaeguineae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T22683189A253968941.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2024-2.rlts.t22683189a253968941.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783), IUCN taxon 22683189. |

## Dacelo novaeguineae. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dacelo_novaeguineae/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| it also eats lizards, snakes, frogs, and rodents | It feeds primarily on snakes, large lizards, worms, snails, insects, fresh water crayfish, frogs, small birds and rodents. (note: snakes/frogs/rodents corroborated by sdz-laughing-kookaburra: 'laughing kookaburras eat more insects, reptiles, frogs, and rodents than fish.') |