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
The Australian Bird Guide in its review: The Australian Bird Guide The Australian Bird Guide (The Guide) was published by CSIRO Publishing in 2017 and took almost 8 years to produce. The lead author is Peter Menkhorst along with Danny Rogers and Rohan Clarke. Original illustrations are by Jeff Davis, Peter Marsack and Kim Franklin. The guide covers a total of 936 species that comprise 747 breeding residents or regular migrants, 29 introduced species and 160 vagrants. These birds are grouped as marine and costal birds, freshwater birds and terrestrial birds and then taxonomically. Weighing in at almost 1.5 kilograms and with dimensions of