Kookaburras are part of the Kingfisher family but eat a lot less fish than its relatives. They are named after their distinctive call also known as the bushman’s alarm clock. This is usually made by a group of birds communicating with each other and according to an Aboriginal legend, the laughing kookaburra’s song is a signal for the sky people to light the sun each morning.
Kookaburras will often mate for life and a trio of eggs will be laid. If food is scarce however the first to hatch will often turn on its siblings evicting it from the nest and in some cases even killing the other chicks. Once they get past the fledgling stage however it is not uncommon for the girls to stick around and help mum rear the next years’ chicks before heading off to find a territory of her own.
IUCN Red List status: Least Concern
This species has an extremely large population and range and the number of kookaburras appears to be stable.
