Blue-winged Kookaburra

Description:

A large kingfisher with a big square head and a long bill. It has a distinctive pale eye. The head is off-white with brown streaks, the shoulders are sky blue and it has a uniform blue rump.The throat is plain white and the underparts are white with faint scalloped orange-brown bars.The back is mid brown. Males have a dark blue tail while females' tails are barred red-brown or blackish. Otherwise the sexes are similar. The legs and feet are grey and the bill is dark above and yellowish below. Juveniles have paler streaks on the head with darker mottlings. There is slight geographical variation with plumage more buff in north-western Australia (race clifoni). The Blue-winged Kookaburra is also known as the Barking or Howling Jackass or Leach's Kookaburra. As they are shy and often quiet in the foliage they may be overlooked.

Habitat:

Flying around in trees on the edge of the wetlands.

Notes:

The Blue-winged Kookaburra is similar to the Laughing Kookaburra (spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/187...) with two of the major visual differences being the amount of blue on the wings, and the eyes. The Blue-winged Kookaburra has distinctive pale eyes and the Laughing Kookaburra has prominent brown eyes. First reference for identification: The Michael Morcombe eGuide to Australian Birds, Mobile App. Reference: http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/blue...