📸 PhotoPhoto: JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Laughing Kookaburra
Dacelo novaeguineae (Laughing Kookaburra · ワライカワセミ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its body length of 45 cm is about one and a half sheets of A4 paper along the long side (29.7 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Because it preys on snakes it was very useful to early settlers, and it also helps prevent insect outbreaks.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The laughing kookaburra is a stocky kingfisher living in Australian forests, where family groups defend the same territory for 1 whole year after another.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It is a stocky bird with a large, square head, brown cheek patches on the face, a brown body with greyish-white underparts, dark bars on the tail, and a long dagger-like beak.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It eats snakes, large lizards, earthworms, snails, insects, crayfish, frogs, small birds, and rodents, killing prey by bashing it against a perch. A breeding pair lives as a family with several mostly male helpers and defends the same territory all year round (1 year).
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2024) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22683189/253968941
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 253968941
- • wikidata.org — Q824974
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Dacelo novaeguineae waterworks.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Dacelo novaeguineae
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Andy Wilson · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.