Laugh, Kookaburra, Laugh!

Australia is all over the place when it comes to its creatures and creepy crawlies.  They've got it all here... freakishly scary, adorably cuddly, and even deadly creatures.  So far, I've managed to limit my animal encounters to those of the huggable variety.  And I hope to keep it that way. 

 

However, I've recently added a new animal to my Aussie obsession list.  While not exactly huggable (although I probably would cuddle the crap out of them if I thought I wouldn't peck my eyes out...), these guys are my current faves.

 

Meet our neighborhood kookaburras! 

 

Tell me I'm not the only one that grew up singing the "kookaburra sits in the old gum tree..." song?  Isn't that random that American kids learn that song?  To be completely honest, I think for a long time I thought that song was about a made up bird.  But now I have these guys in real life in my own backyard! And I'm afraid I might be turning into a crazy bird lady because of it.  Oh, and also important to note- these birds really do LAUGH!  Their song/call absolutely sounds like a bunch of monkeys laughing (in my opinion).  In fact, they laugh their little kookaburra heads off every day- sunrise and sunset just outside our house.  You can't see them in this video, but you can hear them laughing.

 

 

There are anywhere from about two to six kookaburras that like to visit our porch ledge in the late afternoon.   

 

Imagine my excitement when I discovered that one of our neighbors feeds them each afternoon and invited me over to help one day.  They are carnivores FYI, and LOVE kangaroo meat. 

 

Said neighbor is out of town right now and has asked me to water her plants every few days.  So I've taken the liberty of taking over kookaburra feeding duties at her house as well.  Yep, that means I actually bought kangaroo meat.  Sorry 'roos!  They are so tame and will let you get within just a few inches of them.  It's so cool!  Definitely never thought I'd see a kookaburra in real life, much less feed them in my own backyard! 

 

 



This one was trying to impress me by fluffing up his feathers.  It totally worked.



Didn't get the best photo of it, but they have a really pretty blue stripe on their wings.


 


Staring contest.

 


This is a photo of what my finger looked like about 0.025 seconds before I got bit.  It was totally my fault... I was too focused on taking a photo that I forgot I had food in my hand.