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Kookaburra

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For Clytoceyx, see shovel-billed kookaburra. For other uses, see Kookaburra (disambiguation).

Kookaburras (pronounced /ˈkʊkəbʌrə/)[3][4] are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus Dacelo native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between 28 and 47 cm (11 and 19 in) in length and weigh around 300 g (11 oz). The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, onomatopoeic of its call. The loud, distinctive call of the laughing kookaburra is widely used as a stock sound effect in situations that involve an Australian bush setting or tropical jungle, especially in older movies.[citation needed]

Kookaburra
Laughing kookaburra in Tasmania, Australia
recorded in south Western Australia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Halcyoninae
Genus: Dacelo
Leach, 1815
Type species
Alcedo gigantea[1]
Hermann, 1783
Species
Phylogeny
Dacelo
Cladogram based on the molecular analysis by Andersen and colleagues published in 2017.[2]

They are found in habitats ranging from humid forest to arid savannah, as well as in suburban areas with tall trees or near running water. Though they belong to the larger group known as "kingfishers", kookaburras are not closely associated with water.[5]

Taxonomy

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The genus Dacelo was introduced by English zoologist William Elford Leach in 1815.[6] The type species is the laughing kookaburra.[1] The name Dacelo is an anagram of alcedo, the Latin word for a kingfisher.[7] A molecular study published in 2017 found that the genus Dacelo, as then defined, was paraphyletic. The shovel-billed kookaburra was previously classified in the monotypic genus Clytoceyx, but was reclassified into Dacelo based on phylogenetic evidence.[2]

Classification and species

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Five species of kookaburra can be found in Australia, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands:[8]

Genus Dacelo – Leach, 1815 – five species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Shovel-billed kookaburra

 

Dacelo rex
(Sharpe, 1880) 		upland New Guinea Size: 33 cm (13 in) long

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Spangled kookaburra

 

Dacelo tyro
Gray, 1858

Two subspecies
  • D. t. archboldi (Rand, 1938)
  • D. t. tyro (Gray, GR, 1858)
Aru Islands, southern New Guinea Size: 33 cm (13 in) long

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Rufous-bellied kookaburra

 

Dacelo gaudichaud
(Gaimard, 1823) 		lowland New Guinea Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Laughing kookaburra

 

Dacelo novaeguineae
(Hermann, 1783)

Two subspecies
  • D. n. novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783)
  • D. n. minor (Robinson, 1900)
native to eastern Australia, introduced to southwest
  		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Blue-winged kookaburra

 

Dacelo leachii
(Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) 		northern Australia, southern New Guinea Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


The laughing and blue-winged species are direct competitors in the area where their ranges now overlap.[9] This suggests that these two species evolved in isolation, possibly during a period when Australia and New Guinea were more distant.[citation needed]

The Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri people named this bird “guuguubarra”. It is native to the eastern mainland part of Australia. [10]

Kookaburras are sexually dimorphic. This is noticeable in the blue-winged and the rufous-bellied, where males have blue tails and females have reddish-brown tails.

Behaviour

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Close-up of a kookaburra in Sydney, Australia

Kookaburras are almost exclusively carnivorous, eating mice, snakes, insects, small reptiles, and the young of other birds. Unlike many other kingfishers, they rarely eat fish, although they have been known to take goldfish from garden ponds. In zoos, they are usually fed food suitable for birds of prey.

Although most birds will accept handouts and take meat from barbecues, feeding kookaburras ground beef or pet food is not advised, because they do not include enough calcium and roughage.[11]

Hunting

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Kookaburras are usually seen waiting for their prey on powerlines or low tree branches. When they see their prey they dive down and grab them with their strong beak. If the prey is small it will be eaten whole, but if the prey is larger then the kookaburra bashes it against a tree or the ground to make it softer and easier to eat.[12]

They are territorial, except for the rufous-bellied, which often live with their young from the previous season.[13] They often sing as a chorus to mark their territory.[citation needed]

Diet

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A Kookaburra's diet includes lizards, snakes, frogs, rodents, beetles, worms, bugs, and other small mammals.

Habitat

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They live in sclerophyll woodland and open forests, in almost any area with trees large enough to hold the nests and open patches with hunting areas. The kookaburras are declining in population because of predators, lack of prey, and the environment.

Conservation

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All kookaburra species are listed as least concern. Australian law protects native birds, including kookaburras.[14]

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Spangled kookaburra

The distinctive sound of the laughing kookaburra's call resembles human laughter, is widely used in filmmaking and television productions, as well as certain Disney theme-park attractions, regardless of African, Asian, or South American jungle settings. Kookaburras have also appeared in several video games, including (Lineage II, Battletoads, and World of Warcraft). The children's television series Splatalot! includes an Australian character called "Kookaburra" (or "Kook"), whose costume includes decorative wings that recall the bird's plumage, and who is noted for his distinctive, high-pitched laugh. Olly the Kookaburra was one of the three mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The other mascots were Millie the Echidna and Syd the Platypus. The call of a kookaburra nicknamed "Jacko" was for many years used as the morning opening theme by ABC radio stations, and for Radio Australia's overseas broadcasts.[15]

Book

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  • The opening theme from ABC was the basis for a children's book by Brooke Nicholls titled Jacko, the Broadcasting Kookaburra — His Life and Adventures.[16][15]
  • In William Arden's 1969 book, The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow (one of the Three Investigators series for young readers), the laughing kookaburra is integral to the plot.[17]

Film

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Three newly hatched kookaburra chicks

Music

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A male blue-winged kookaburra
  • "Kookaburra [sits in the old gum tree]", a well-known children's song, was written in 1932 by Marion Sinclair.

Postage stamps

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B.C.O.F. kookaburra stamp first issued in 1946.
  • A six-pence (equivalent to $6.64 in 2022)[21] stamp was issued in 1914.
  • A three-pence (equivalent to $2.27 in 2022)[21] commemorative Australian stamp was issued for the 1928 Melbourne International Philatelic Exhibition.
  • A six-pence (equivalent to $5.47 in 2022)[21] stamp was issued in 1932.
  • A 38¢ (equivalent to $0.84 in 2022)[21] Australian stamp issued in 1990 features a pair of kookaburras.[22]
  • An international $1.70 (equivalent to $2.09 in 2022)[21] Australian stamp featuring an illustrated kookaburra was released in 2013.
  • A $1.10 (equivalent to $1.21 in 2022)[21] laughing kookaburra stamp issued in 2020.

Money

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Reverse of two ounce high relief Kookaburra proof coin from the Perth mint

Usage across sport

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References

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  1. ^ a b Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 189.
  2. ^ a b Andersen, M.J.; McCullough, J.M.; Mauck III, W.M.; Smith, B.T.; Moyle, R.G. (2017). "A phylogeny of kingfishers reveals an Indomalayan origin and elevated rates of diversification on oceanic islands". Journal of Biogeography. 45 (2): 1–13. doi:10.1111/jbi.13139.
  3. ^ Wells, John C. (2000). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (2nd ed.). Longman. p. 423. ISBN 0-582-36467-1.
  4. ^ "kookaburra". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/5381999672. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  5. ^ Simpson, Ken (1989). Field guide to the birds of Australia: a book of identification. Christopher Helm. p. 317.
  6. ^ Leach’s, William Elford (1815). The Zoological Miscellany; being descriptions of new, or interesting Animals. Vol. 2. London: B. McMillan for E. Nodder & Son. p. 125.
  7. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  8. ^ "Rollers, ground rollers, kingfishers – IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Kookaburra, Dacelo sp. Factsheet (Bibliography)". San Diego Zoo. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Why the kookaburra's iconic laugh is at risk of being silenced". The Conversation. 17 April 2024.
  11. ^ Giles, Jennie (1994). "Caring for Wild Birds in Captivity Series (Adelaide and Environs): Caring for Kookaburras" (PDF). Bird Care & Conservation Society South Australia Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  12. ^ "Our Wildlife Factsheet - Laughing Kookaburra" (PDF). wildlife.vic.gov.au. Government of Victoria.
  13. ^ Legge, Sarah (2004). Kookaburra: King of the Bush. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 978-0-643-09063-7. OCLC 223994691.
  14. ^ "BirdLife Data Zone". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  15. ^ a b Jerry Berg. "Jacko, the Broadcasting Kookaburra". Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  16. ^ Nicholls, Brooke (1933). Jacko, the Broadcasting Kookaburra — His Life and Adventures. Angus & Robertson.
  17. ^ Arden, William (1969). The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow. New York: Random House. pp. 164–166. ISBN 9780394914923.
  18. ^ Melissa (27 August 2013). "Of Tarzan and Kookaburras". The Sound and the Foley. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  19. ^ Melissa (30 May 2013). "That Jungle Sound". The Sound and the Foley. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  20. ^ Arthur, Nicole (31 January 2003). "Day of the Dolphin". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  21. ^ a b c d e f AU = 1850-1901: McLean, I.W. (1999), Consumer Prices and Expenditure Patterns in Australia 1850–1914. Australian Economic History Review, 39: 1-28 (taken W6 series from Table A1, which represents the average inflation in all of Australian colonies). For later years, calculated using the pre-decimal inflation calculator provided by the Reserve Bank of Australia for each year, input: £94 8s (94.40 Australian pounds in decimal values), start year: 1901.
  22. ^ "Birds on stamps: Australia Australië Australie". www.birdtheme.org. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Australian Kookaburra". Silver Bullion World. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  24. ^ "Maritime Topics On Stamps, America Cup, Sailing". Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  25. ^ "Kookaburras (men)". 26 June 2014. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2023.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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Look up kookaburra in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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