Birds · Coraciiformes · Alcedinidae

Blue-winged Kookaburra

Dacelo leachii

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The blue-winged kookaburra is the kookaburra of tropical northern Australia and southern New Guinea, smaller than the laughing kookaburra and with intensely blue wings and, in the male, a blue tail. Like all the giant Australian kingfishers it hunts from a perch, dropping onto reptiles, large insects, rodents and other birds, and beats its prey against the branch before swallowing it. It lives in family groups with cooperative breeding.

Weight

284 g – 334 g

Size

38 cm – 42 cm

Lifespan

15 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

SavannaTemperate forestCarnivore Diurnal Bird Savanna Temperate forest

3countries 12parks4same family

Fun facts

comportamientoIt lives in cooperative family groups, where young birds from earlier broods help their parents feed the new chicks before striking out on their own.
Its call is not the clean laughter of the laughing kookaburra but a harsh, broken howling that Australians describe as the barking of a run-over dog: far less musical and a good deal more unsettling.
It frequently nests inside arboreal termite mounds: it digs a chamber in the live termite nest, and the termites seal the wound around it and give the chicks a stable temperature.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Tropical eucalypt savannah, gallery forest and wetland margins of northern Australia and New Guinea
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 26 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 3 eggs

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacelo_leachii