World Travel 4 Indians

Kookaburra in Australia

If you are a bird lover, you must have heard about the beautiful bird Kookaburra. Kookaburra is a kingfisher, which has got very large size.

While visiting Australia you will get to see many of these birds. The bird is named "Kookaburra", because the call of the bird sounds similar to this word.

Do not be surprised, if you hear a human laughter while roaming around the forests of Australia. It is in fact the call of this Kookaburra, much similar to the human laughter.

The nature of the bird Kookaburra is very peculiar. Some of the species like the Laughing Kookaburra or Dacelo novaeguineae is a very lively and joyful bird.

On the other hand the Blue-winged Kookaburra or Dacelo leachii is another species that is characterized with frenzied nature and insanity.

The sound of the call of the bird is like "OOH OOH AHH AHH AHH AHH AHH" and this sound is very much popular in Australia.

In many movies this sound has been used as the background music when some forestry is shown. Local believe that the bird Kookaburra can feel when a danger is about to come or if it will be raining.

So people believe that whenever the Kookaburra laughs there must be one of these two reasons. Spring is the month when the Kookaburras make their nests and lay eggs.

The Kookaburra stands at a maximum of 47 cm in length, and a 10-cmbill. The mesmerizing bird or the 'laughing bird' is larger than most kingfishers, but its brown and tan plumage is monotonous as compared to the standards of the family.

Kookaburra's nest during the spring season and lays 2 to 4 white eggs in tree holes or termite nests.

Their loud cries, which resemble human laughter are typically chorused at dawn and dusk, and is an enthralling characteristic sound of the Australian bush.

A very family orientated species the Laughing Kookaburra has a very long history in Australia with several stories and Aboriginal legends stemming from the daily early morning chorus of this species.

Many tribes believed that the call of the Kookaburra on dawn was a signal to the sky gods to light the great fire in the sky that illuminates and warms the earth by day.

Actually used more as a territorial marker, the call of the Kookaburra is one of those unmistakable sounds of the Australian bush that will definitely give your ears a workout morning and afternoon.

A very strange thing about these Kookaburras is that when the little Kookaburras grow up and learn to fly they do not fly away leaving their parents.

They continue to stay with them. Scientists say that no other birds are known to show this kind of behavior.