Monday 7 March 2011

World Bird Wednesday - Laughing kookaburra

Thought I'd go with a bit of an icon this week - so here it is, the Alarmbird, the Breakfastbird, The Bushman's, Settlers or Shepard's Clock; The Brown, Great Brown, Gait or Laughing Kingfisher; Jack, Jackass, Jacko, Jack; Kooka; Laughing Jack, John, Johnass or Jonny; or finally (and these are my favourites due to their utter craziness) the Ha Ha or Woop Woop Pigeon! More commonly know as the Laughing Kookaburra, and more specifically Dacelo novaeguinea.

I remember the first time I saw one and was shocked by how big they are - the worlds largest kingfisher. I was also shocked that my friends children would throw rocks at them so that they could go back to sleep in the mornings! The rocks always missed and the Kookaburra was always back there the next morning, laughing away. For such an icon (they even make it into the sound track of early Tarzan movies) they are only native to the east coast, have been introduced else where and are absent from most of the west. But I like them - one cannot be un-cheered by a kookaburra (or a Woop Woop Pigeon for that matter!)




























You can find many more images of birds from around the world at World Bird Wednesday.

You can see the blog post that features Kookaburras (and other things) here, and you can look at the most recent of my posts by clicking the Paying Ready Attention link on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the birds!

17 comments:

  1. Nice photos - and really iconic!

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  2. Nice images of a lovely bird you have in your part of the world. Many thanks for sharing.

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  3. I dearly love to see photos of this bird...such a character--great post.

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  4. They are cool looking birds and one of my favorite Austalian birds. Great photos.

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  5. Amazing bird! Have never seen it before!

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  6. Hiya Stewart,

    A characterful bird. if annoying at times :-)
    Interesting post. What a lot of names it goes by.
    You won't miss the UK blackbirds and crows then.

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  7. Beautiful looking bird Stewart.Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  8. That's a real beauty Stewart. So many names too lol

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  9. I have listened to sound tracks of this bird. Really fantastic. You got some great images! Nice post!

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  10. belle serie animaliere, il est tres beau cet oiseau

    Publicity ;o) Every Friday (and the Weekend), The Challenge "Walk In The Street Photography"

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  11. What an incredible bird! I wasn't aware of all the different names it is called. Your photos are great!

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  12. Great shots, and an awesome bird!

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  13. Such a fascinating bird -- and a delight to see! I hope to one day see one in the wild!

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  14. I love that bird! We have Belted Kingfishers here, and I love their big heads.

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  15. Woop woop! That is to funny. A wonderful post Mr. Stewart! I wonder if any bird in the the world has so many affectionate names.

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  16. You have so many wonderful birds in Australia. Great captures of the Kookaburra!

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