Laughing Kookaburra

• comunicaciónIts call, like human laughter, traditionally marks dawn and dusk, and family groups sing it together to defend their territory.
• Its collective laughter at dawn is a territorial marker, not an expression of merriment: the whole group performs it in chorus and neighbouring groups answer, forming a chain that runs through the forest.
• It is the largest kingfisher in the world and almost never fishes: it hunts reptiles, insects and rodents on land, and is famous for killing venomous snakes by dropping them from the air.
• Its laugh was used as a jungle sound in dozens of Hollywood films set in Africa and Amazonia, where the species does not occur.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Eucalypt woodland, wooded savannah, parks and gardens of eastern and south-western Australia

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

25 days

Litter / clutch size

3 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Dacelo novaeguineae

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.