Blue-winged kookaburra Blue-winged kookaburra The blue-winged kookaburra ("Dacelo leachii") is a large species of kingfisher native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. Measuring around , it is slightly smaller than the more familiar laughing kookaburra. It has cream-coloured upper- and underparts barred with brownish markings. It has blue wings and brown shoulders and blue rump. It is sexually dimorphic, with a blue tail in the male, and a rufous tail with blackish bars in the female. The blue-winged kookaburra was first collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, but was initially overlooked and confused with the laughing kookaburra, and was finally
Laughing kookaburra worms, snakes and are known to take goldfish out of garden ponds. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classed the laughing kookaburra as a species of least concern as it has a huge range and large population, with no widespread threats. The laughing kookaburra was first described and illustrated (in black and white) by the French naturalist and explorer Pierre Sonnerat in his "Voyage à la nouvelle Guinée" which was published in 1776. He claimed to have seen the bird in New Guinea. In fact Sonnerat never visited New Guinea and the laughing kookaburra does not occur