Woody point Iluka "Kookaburra"

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Woody point Iluka “Kookaburra”


Image by Michael Dawes
Dacelo novaeguineae

Description
The Laughing Kookaburra is instantly recognisable in both plumage and voice. This large member of the kingfisher family measures 40 – 45 cm in length. It is generally off-white below, faintly barred with dark brown, and brown on the back and wings. The tail is more rufous, broadly barred with black. There is a conspicuous dark brown eye-stripe through the face.

The chuckling voice that gives this species its English name is a common and familiar sound throughout the bird’s range. The loud ‘koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-kaa-kaa-kaa’ is often sung in a chorus with other individuals. The Laughing Kookaburra also has a shorter ‘koooaa’, which is normally given when accompanied by other members of its family group.

Identification may only be confused where the Laughing Kookaburra’s range overlaps that of the Blue-winged Kookaburra, D. leachii, in eastern Queensland. The call of the Blue-winged Kookaburra is coarser than that of the Laughing Kookaburra, and ends somewhat abruptly. The Blue-winged Kookaburra lacks the brown eye-stripe, has a blue tail and a large amount of blue in the wing, and has a pale eye.

Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)


Image by "Caveman Chuck" Coker
I never realized that you can look through their beaks. I think this is a adult Western Gull (Larus occidentalis). I don’t think the California Gull (Larus californicus) has red in its beak.

Update: This looks a lot like a Western Gull photo I found on on Wikipedia, so I’m happy with my identification.

I want to get some bird shots that are as good as many of the others I see on Flickr.

Trivia

Some states have official state birds with the state name in the birds name: there is the California Quail (Callipepla californica); Gallus gallus is called both the Blue Hen of Delaware and the Rhode Island Red Chicken; there is the Nēnē or Hawaiian Goose (Branta sandvicensis) and the (South) Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus).

I find it amusing that Utah’s state bird has another state’s name in the bird’s name: California Gull, Larus californicus.

Balboa Pier, Balboa, California.

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Tags:Iluka, Kookaburra, point, Woody