Animal Diaries Archive

Cackling Kookaburras and Fabulous Frogmouths

25 November 2005

Amongst all the birds we have to care for at Australia Zoo we have five Laughing Kookaburras and two Tawny Frogmouths in our nursery that have come to us as injured birds. These injuries have all been sustained from collisions with cars and as a result, these birds can no longer fend for themselves in the wild. Luckily for them they have found their way to us and get to live at the 'Club Kookaburra'.

The kookaburras we have are a tight little group that pretty much sticks together, as this represents the type of behavior they would exhibit in the wild. They are also very territorial birds and will put up a pretty good fight to keep the other kookaburras away from their territory. This can pose a problem in captive birds in that it can be quite difficult introducing subsequent injured kookaburras to this group.

To strengthen bonds and define their territory, kookaburras will make their familiar 'laugh' that many of us are used to. This can be very noisy when our kookaburras burst into chorus whilst we are close by their enclosure. It certainly is quite something to be that close to them when they are 'cackling'.

We also have two Tawny Frogmouths that 'bunk up' with the kookaburras. They all get on just fine, as the Tawny Frogmouths are no threat to the kookaburras.

The Tawny Frogmouths are totally amazing birds in the way they can sit on their perches for great lengths of time and remain completely still.

Frogmouths are nocturnal birds, so it's quite rare to see them by day. More commonly they are seen darting out at night toward vehicle headlights in search of insects. This is when they are generally killed or badly injured.

So be sure to check out these awesome little Aussies when you visit Australia Zoo.