Laughing Kookaburra

Description:

Largest species of kingfisher. Stout, stocky body, large head, strong, robust bill. Brown eyes with eye-stripe, mostly off-white coloured feathers, barred with dark brown on the back and wings. The tail feathers are orangey-brown with thick brown bars. Approx. 41–47 cm in length.

Habitat:

Open woodlands, forest, suburban backyards. This little mate was photographed sitting on my back deck.

Notes:

Spotted on Yuggera/Turrbal Country on my back deck in Brisbane, Australia (4171). I LOVE birds and the Kookaburra has to be one of my all time favourites. The patterns and colours in their feathers fascinate me and I love hearing their beautiful calls and songs. The Kookaburra is known for a raucous cackling call which can be quite loud, especially when they are in groups but it's still a joy to hear and it's infectious, too - it's hard not to laugh along with them! They are nicknamed 'the laughing jackass'. The word kookaburra comes from the Wiradjuri language word guguburra. (https://wcclp.com.au/wiradjuri-dictionar...) This little mate let me get pretty close to get some good shots. I love zooming in as well to get some of the beautiful details. I even managed to get a shot of the kookaburra blinking! You can clearly see the nictitating membrane. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nictitatin....) I have shared more images to my Instagram account, including the zooms of detail: https://www.instagram.com/hellomrsroyle/...