Kookaburra larger group known as "kingfishers", kookaburras are not closely associated with water. The genus "Dacelo" was introduced by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in 1815. The type species is the laughing kookaburra. The name "Dacelo" is an anagram of "Alcedo", the Latin word for a kingfisher. A molecular study published in 2017 found that the genus "Dacelo", as currently defined, is paraphyletic. The shovel-billed kookaburra in the monotypic genus "Clytoceyx" sits within "Dacelo". Four species of kookaburra can be found in Australia, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands. Kookaburras are sexually dimorphic. This is noticeable in the blue-winged and
The Australian Bird Guide thought that the Australian Bird Guide edged out "The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, 9th edition" by Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight, edited by Sarah Pizzey (2012). The review thought the index of the Guide was not as good as the Pizzey and Knight guide. The reviewer preferred the Guide because of the “currency of information, denseness of text, and quality and quantity of illustrations. They also state that because of the difference in emphasis of the different guides there are many reasons to own more than one of the guides. This review looked at the following guides