When you need a smile it’s always great to hear the resounding call of a Laughing Kookaburra, or even better, an extended family of kookas laughing in unison.
This week I’m sharing a selection of favourite my kookaburra shots. They’ve been visiting my place a lot recently and laughing loudly to define their territory. The kooka above is a fairly young bird, I’ll explain more in later shots. A series of my misty kookaburra shots were used as a kitchen splashback a few years ago, it looked fabulous.
I took this photograph in the Dandenong Ranges while waiting for a hair cut. I was stoked to have my camera with me (I mean who doesn’t take their camera to the hairdressers) when I saw this beautiful bird sitting on such a neat perch.
This young Kookaburra was braving the breeze in the Canberra Botanic Gardens, despite the way it looks it isn’t a new crested species! Laughing Kookaburras are born with black bills, as they grow old their lower bill gradually becomes much lighter.
This shot was used in the CSIRO book A Hollow is a Home by Abbie Mitchell. I took this photograph just north of the Murray River at Mildura. It’s one of the nicest looking hollows I’ve seen.
I’ve shared this strange picture to give a good view of the lower bill. It’s quite a peculiar feature I think.
And here is one having a good laugh and showing off its ‘avian tonsils’, or lymphoid tissue, in the process!
Happy birding, Kim
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