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Laughing Kookaburra

August 31, 2019
It sounds like a jungle out there!
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Laughing Kookaburra Expand Image
© Chris Yetter

The voice of the Laughing Kookaburra is so distinctive, it's one of the best known sounds in nature. Its exotic call has been a Hollywood standard for decades, that unseen creature in the depths of the jungle, with heroes ranging from Tarzan to Indiana Jones. Kookaburras are hefty members of the kingfisher family, found primarily in Australia and New Guinea.

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  • Full Transcript
  • Credits

BirdNote®

Laugh of the Kookaburra

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote!

[Laughing Kookaburra calls]
I bet you’ve heard this sound before, maybe on the soundtrack of a movie. [Laughing Kookaburra calls]
This oddly familiar crazed laughter belongs to the Laughing Kookaburra of Australia. [Laughing Kookaburra calls] Its exotic call has been a Hollywood standard for decades, that unseen creature lurking in the depths of the African jungle – or any jungle for that matter, in movies with heroes ranging from Tarzan to Indiana Jones.
But in reality, just what kind of birds are kookaburras? They’re hefty members of the kingfisher family, found primarily in Australia and New Guinea. The Laughing Kookaburra – one of four species of kookaburras – stands 18 inches tall and is the largest of all kingfishers. Unlike our familiar waterside kingfishers, kookaburras live in open woodlands and dive from branches to capture snakes, lizards, and mice.
The bird’s name, which imitates its raucous call, derives from an Australian aboriginal language, Wiradhuri (pronounced wee-rah-JOOR-ee). It’s also earned the names “bushman’s clock,” “breakfastbird,” and “alarmbird,” for its reliable habit of loudly ringing in the dawn. [Laughing Kookaburra calls]
Listeners support our show.  Thank you!  I’m Michael Stein.
###
Call of the Laughing Kookaburra provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by F.N. Robinson.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2013 Tune In to Nature.org      August 2017/2019     Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# 080907LAKOKPLU    LAKO-01b

 

Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Michael Stein
Narrator
Chris Yetter
Photographer
Tags: humor, New Guinea, Australia

Related Resources

Learn more at the Australian Museum Online

More About These Birds

Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)

Dacelo novaeguineae

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Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

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