Kookaburras | Living with Aussie Wildlife

Kookaburras, with their special laughs, are part of Australian backyards and neighbourhoods. Find out how you can live side by side with these amazing birds.

Key facts:

• Kookaburras live across the east and the south-west of Australia
• Kookaburras eat mice, rats, small snakes, lizards, fish and insects
• Kookaburras mate for life, and in spring, they make nests

Australia is full of furry, feathered, and scaly animals, not found anywhere else in the world. Meet some common Australian animals and improve your English language skills with SBS Learn English.

Learning notes

• Download worksheet (pdf - 621kb)
• Watch with subtitles and translated transcripts by switching your language in the top right navigation.

Transcript

Have you ever heard a loud laughing sound coming from the trees?

That is a family of kookaburras.

They are often found in suburbs.

So let’s learn how to live with them.

Living with Aussie Wildlife

Kookaburras

The laughing kookaburra has white and brown feathers and a strong beak.

This helps the kookaburra when it hunts for food.

Kookaburras live across the east and the south-west of Australia.

Kookaburras live in the one area called a territory.

If kookaburras live near your home they will be there for many years.

Kookaburras live in families and talk to each other with a call Australians call a laugh.

You might hear this at dusk and dawn.

Kookaburras eat mice and rats.

They also eat small snakes, lizards, fish and insects.

They use their strong beaks to hold and hit their food to break the bones before eating it.

Kookaburras will eat any mice and rats around your home.

If you use rat poison, the kookaburras may also die.

Kookaburras mate for life.

In spring they make nests in tree hollows and palm trees.

They defend their nests from other kookaburras.

When a kookaburra sees its reflection in a window, it might try to attack it.

You can help kookaburras by putting things like plants in the windows to stop the glass from reflecting.

Quiz time!

Kookaburras like to eat...

..flowers, fruit or mice?

Kookaburras like to eat mice.

Kookaburras, with their special laughs, are part of Australian backyards and neighbourhoods.

We love living with kookaburras!

Credits

Living with Aussie Wildlife is a project made by SBS in partnership with Navitas Skilled Futures and WIRES.

Watch all animals in the Living with Aussie Wildlife series.