Laughing kookaburra Laughing kookaburra The laughing kookaburra ("Dacelo novaeguineae") is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a dark eye-stripe. The upperparts are mostly dark brown but there is a mottled light-blue patch on the wing coverts. The underparts are white and the tail is barred with rufous and black. The plumage of the male and female birds is similar. The territorial call is a distinctive laugh that is often delivered by several birds at the same time, and is widely used as a stock sound effect in situations that involve
What Bird is That? Edition What Bird is That?" was published by Australia's Heritage Publishing in 2011, the latest release of Cayley’s “big bird book” complete with Lindsey’s revisions. It is 832 pages, features 769 birds and includes all 460 of Cayley’s full-colour paintings, many showing groups of related birds. New to this edition was an accompanying e-book "What Bird Call is That?", which identifies and illustrates 101 birds from "What Bird is That?", as well as providing sound files of each featured bird’s distinctive call. The sound files were provided by David Stewart. "What Bird is That?" plays a central role in Australian