Today's bird song is from yet another of Australia's icons - the Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo). In the home I had before Asquith, at Wahroonga, I had a family of these amiable critters who liked to hang out on the Hills Hoist (rotary washing line). Six of them, no less. I learned that I could not leave Jade's breakfast outside... so she got to eat in the utility room. Instead, I bought insect food pellets designed specifically for Aussie carnivorous birds (yes, the Magpies and Currawongs Butcherbirds all loved them) to treat the tribe.
Each had distinct feather patterns that I could tell them apart. They got named Peter, Piper, Picta, Peesa, Pickled and Pepper... Peter was undoubtedly at the top of the pecking order. Pickled (pictured here keeping an eye on Jasper Cat) was the gentlest and grew to be the most frequent visitor, sometimes sitting in the Jacaranda tree for the whole day as Jade and Jasper and Jet and I enjoyed our backyard beneath him (or her - I never did work that out!).
Here's a film from a bloke in Brisbane who has his own tribe - and the balcony acts like an amphitheatre for their racous laughter...
Hi Yam - that'd be worse than the seagulls here! Amazing video ... true to their pen-name though ... bliss they've stopped! Do they eat fish and chips, or sandwiches ... a la seagulls here? Fun to see - thank you ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHari OM
DeleteOh no, Hilary, these guys are polite - they wait for the invitation to swoop the food and sometimes sing for their supper! And that laugh is way better than the squawk of seagulls - or other birds that visited my yard, such as the Lorikeets and Cockatoos. Mind you - I didn't have any echo chambers like this bloke's balcony!!! Yxx
It really is such an iconic bird, YAM, and we saw them on our very first day when we last visited Australia, and most days until we left. I never tired of them, neither hearing them nor seeing them go about their business. One of the Air bnbs we rented had bush behind it and the owner told us the Kookaburras kept the snake population in check, having cautioned us about walking "back there!"
ReplyDeleteOh my, that is a strange sound. I would love to see and hear them myself some day. Thanks for sharing the video.
ReplyDeleteHave a happy weekend.
Hello Yam, I am stopping back to say thank you for sharing your post and linking up. I enjoyed hearing the Kookaburras. Enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteThey are a loud bunch, aren't they!
ReplyDeleteAmazing and fun to listen to them laugh.
ReplyDeletewhen I hear this sound, I think jungle birds because I have only heard them in movies. almost all movies that are about people traveling through jungles, this is the sound tract. they are really pretty birds and very loud... I loved your fond memories of cat/dog/birds/trees in your back yard.
ReplyDeleteHari OM
DeleteI suspect the jungle sounds in movies are more likely to be the chatter of monkeys, which could be similar... Kookas are definitely not jungle birds - they live only in Australasia, mostly in light forest, urban and open land. Yxx
YAM what a fun x 100 video serenade from the Kookaburras. WOW Amazing that their vocals just automatically quit.
ReplyDeleteDid they start all the commotion before sunrise? All in all lit is not shrill and they they have have harmony. LOL
Hugs cecilia
They really are unique and I love seeing birds I've never seen in the wild. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWe enjoy learning more about birds that we can't see around us. Those Kookaburras sure are loud.
ReplyDeleteOh my, they ARE loud - wish they would share the joke:)
ReplyDeleteWas that a morning song or feed me song, I wonder. Lovely birds with quite the voice. namaste, janice xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a machine like sound. Hope I can see it some day.
ReplyDeletehttps://craniumbolts.blogspot.com/2023/01/recent-haul-from-saul-kere.html?m=1
Cool birds! And what a sound! Nothing like the birds here in the village. Purrs Marv
ReplyDelete