Monkey bird

Lately I've been wakened by the loud Oo-oo-ah ahahah kakakaaaah of a creature that I've heard called the King of the Bush, a Laughing Jackass (really!), and most recently 'That Damned Monkey Bird' by an irate and sleepless Frenchman with whom I shared a campsite.

The largest kingfisher in the world, the Laughing Kookaburra is the species I've borne particular unhappy witness to at several dawns on the east coast of Australia. All kookaburras have a laughter-like call whether disrupting sleep here or across the Torres Strait in Papua New Guinea.

These guys are like the cats of the Australian sky. They drop down and snap up lizards, snakes, frogs, rodents and insects spied from a pounce-worthy distance. In spite of their name I hear that they're not actually all that crazy about fish.

Kookaburras often call together in a cocophanous 'Get-off-my-turf buster!'-harmony. Studies say there are nuanced meanings in their laugh song, chuckle, croon, crackle and kooaa.


The Laughing Kookaburra is thought to pair up with a mate for life. They nest in tree hollows and empty termite mounds, and get up to 20 years old.

And I've never seen it myself, but when they find a larger meal - like a lizard or snake - they anvil it against rocks and trees in order to pulp these delicacies before eating them. It reminds me of a kid who used to catch my school bus home, and who would bash his apple against the seat railings for the whole 20 minute ride to 'soften up his fruit up' before eating. I wonder what he's doing now? I'm guessing he didn't go into the juice business.