Kookie - The Laughing Kookaburra

Travel Canada and the United States learning about other native birds. 

Kookie travelled to Canada with my daughter. We would love to see photos of his travels and of native birds.  He will get homesick so would like to return to Brisbane Queensland Australia in 2012. 

Please look after Kookie and keep her in a plastic bag and moving from cache to cache.

Laughing Kookaburra Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae Family: Halcyonidae Order: Coraciiformes Aussie Slang: 'Kookies'
The kookaburra laugh is the most distinctive sound of the Australian bush. Aboriginal legend has it that the famous morning chorus is a signal for the 'sky people' to light the great fire that illuminates and warms the earth by day.

More mundanely, it is essentially a territorial call which delineates neighbouring groups and the loud 'koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-kaa-kaa-kaa' is particularly loud in choruses at dawn and dusk. Laughing Kookaburras are found throughout Australia and have been introduced into New Zealand. It is one of the larger members of the kingfisher family. They feed on insects, worms, small snakes, small mammals, frogs, fish and other small birds. Prey is seized by pouncing from a suitable perch. Small prey is eaten whole, but larger prey is killed by bashing it against the ground or tree branch.

Laughing Kookaburras are believed to pair for life. They nest in a chamber in a naturally occurring tree hollow or in a burrow excavated in a termite mound in a tree. Both sexes share the incubation duties and both care for the young. Other Laughing Kookaburras, usually offspring of the previous one or two years act as helpers during the breeding season. 'Kookies' often become quite tame around humans and will readily accept scraps of meat. This 'pre-processed' food is still beaten against a perch before swallowing.