Kookaburra is a bird that most people refer to as laughing Kookaburra, and its scientific name is Dacelo novaeguineae. Some people refer to the bird as the bushman’s clock due to its early morning and evening laughter chorus. Here are more distinct characteristics of the Kookaburra:

• It is native to Eastern Australian dry eucalyptus forests, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
• Belongs to the kingfisher family; however, it doesn’t dive into water
• Weighs approximately one pound or 0.5kg and grows to 18 inches or 45cm in height.
• It is carnivorous feasting on mice, insects, small snakes and other reptiles.
• It has a brownish eyebrow starting from the beak and tapering off behind its crown.
• Its wing feathers are blue-brown and under layers white.
• It has grey-brown tail feathers, with brown bar patterns and white at the end.
• It has a sharp, strong beak black on the upper part and light underneath.
• Similar to other members of the kingfisher family, it has a bony ridge on the back of its skull.
• It has strong neck muscles and a square-shaped head.
• It is monogamous and lives in families of parents and older siblings who help raise the young ones.
• Its females lay one to five eggs.
• Chicks hutch featherless, blind and with a hook on their beak. They use the hook to fight each other to death which reduces food competition.
• It is also a territorial bird living on trees, and its average life span is 20 years.

The kookaburra has been introduced to other territories, including New Zealand, Western Australia and Tasmania. Their major challenge is finding a habitat. However its existence is not threatened.