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This is a Laughing Kookaburra I saw at a sanctuary for birds in Walsrode, northern Germany. The sanctuary shows a huge variety of birds and is said to be the biggest of its kind worldwide. Many birds are bred there in order to keep up a high population and / or return them to the wild.
I like Kookaburras because of a story that happened to my grandfather.
He visited his cousin and her family in Australia several years ago. They have a large farm somewhere in the outback of the state Victoria. My grandfather suffered from the implications of an apoplectic stroke that stroke him during his stay in Australia. Nevertheless he had his daily walk to the letterbox as a walking-training, a walk of about half an hour in only one direction! One day when he finally reached the letterbox someone was laughing very loud about the old man.
My grandfather went back to the farm house, upset about those nasty young people hiding in bushes and laughing about an old man.
He told our family about the situation. They nearly started to laugh too as they are used to the calls of Kookaburras. They explained to my grandfather what had happened to him and even he had to laugh.
Here are some information about these wonderful birds from wikipedia.org:
Kookaburras (genus Dacelo) are large to very large (total length 28-42 cm/11-17 in) terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea, the name a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, which is onomatopoeic of its call.
Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call, which is uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter — good-natured, if rather hysterical, merriment in the case of the well-known Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae); and maniacal cackling in the case of the slightly smaller Blue-winged Kookaburra (D. leachii).
They are generally not closely associated with water, and can be found in habitats ranging from humid forest to arid savanna, but also in suburban and residential areas near running water and where food can be searched for easily.
There are four known species of kookaburras found in Australia, New Guinea and the Aru Islands.
Unusual for close relatives, the Laughing and Blue-winged species are direct competitors in the area where their ranges overlap. This suggests that the two species, though having common stock, evolved in isolation (possibly during a period when Australia and New Guinea were more distant — see Australia-New Guinea) and were only brought back into contact in relatively recent geological times.
Kookaburras are carnivorous. They will eat lizards, snakes, insects, mice and raw meat. The most social birds will accept handouts from humans and will take raw or cooked meat (even if at high temperature) from on or near open-air barbecues left unattended. It is generally not advised to feed the birds too regularly as meat alone does not include calcium and other nutrients essential to the bird. Remainders of mince on the bird's beak can fester and cause problems for the bird.
They are territorial, and often live with the partly grown chicks of the previous season. They often sing as a chorus to mark their territory.
Kookaburras, when pulled from the nest and hand fed as chicks, can make quite affectionate pets. However their captive diet of mice and beef can be difficult for some people to maintain, their noise can irritate, and they require spacious cages or aviaries to fly about in. But when all the requirements are met they are truly a worthwhile companion pet bird.
In the wild, kookaburras are known to eat babies of other birds and snakes, and insects and small reptiles. In zoos, they are usually fed food for birds of prey, and dead baby chicks.
PP: cropped, adjusted brightness, added frame, resized
Any critiques, comments and workshops are welcome.
Regards, Britta |
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