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Australian Birds
Kookaburra
Kookaburra are part of the group of birds called kingfishers. Kookaburras live in woodlands and open forests.
Kookaburras have short, thick bodies, large heads and long bills. Their feathers are brown, black or white. There are blue patches on some of the feathers. Males and females look similar.
Kookaburras eat insects, small snakes, lizards, frogs and fish, as well as earthworms and small birds.
Kookaburras make a laughing call, most often in the early morning and just before dark. The calls let other kookaburras know where each one lives. An Aboriginal legend says that the kookaburra's laugh is a signal to the sky spirits to light the great fire, the sun, in the morning and to put it out at night.
After mating, the female kookaburra lays up to 4 eggs in a hole in a tree. The male and the female take turns to sit on the eggs until they hatch, about 25 days later. Both parents feed their chicks. The young kookaburras have feathers after about one month. They leave the nest soon after that.
Related weblinks -
• See more kookaburras here -
http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/laughing_kookaburra.htm
• Here a kookaburra here -
http://teachit.acreekps.vic.edu.au/animals/kookaburra.htm