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Kookaburra

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                iKookaburras
   Kookaburra.
   Kookaburra.
         Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Coraciiformes
   Family:  Halcyonidae
   Genus:   Dacelo
            Leach, 1815

                                   Species

     * Dacelo gaudichaud
     * Dacelo leachii
     * Dacelo novaeguineae
     * Dacelo tyro

   Kookaburras are very large terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia
   and New Guinea, the name a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, which
   is onomatopoeic of its call.

   Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call which is
   uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter — good-natured, if rather
   hysterical, merriment in the case of the well-known Laughing Kookaburra
   (Dacelo novaeguineae); and maniacial, almost insane, cackling in the
   case of the slightly smaller Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii).
   The call has been immortalized as the "ooh ooh AHH AHH AHHH AHH AHH"
   cry that is part of the background audio in countless jungle movies,
   regardless of where the jungle in the movie is located.

Classification and species

   There are four known species of Kookaburra found in Australia, New
   Guinea and the Aru Islands.

   Unusually for close relatives, the Laughing and Blue-winged species are
   direct competitors in the area where their ranges overlap. This
   suggests that the two species, though having common stock, evolved in
   isolation (possibly during a period when Australia and New Guinea were
   more distant — see Australia-New Guinea) and were only brought back
   into contact in relatively recent geological times.

Trivia

     * "Olly" the Kookaburra was one of the three mascots chosen for the
       Sydney 2000 Olympics. The other mascots were the Echidna Millie and
       the Platypus Syd.
     * Australia has dedicated a series of coins to the Kookaburra since
       1990.
     * There is also a Kookaburra nursery rhyme in Australia.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kookaburra"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
