A kookaburra is a large bird native to Australia and New Guinea, famous for its loud, distinctive call that sounds remarkably like human laughter. When a kookaburra calls, especially at dawn or dusk, it makes a sound like kook-kook-kook-ka-ka-ka, building into what sounds like wild cackling. Early European settlers in Australia called it the laughing kookaburra because the sound reminded them of people laughing together.

Kookaburras belong to the kingfisher family, though unlike most kingfishers, they don't eat fish. Instead, they hunt snakes, lizards, insects, and small rodents, sitting patiently on a branch before swooping down to catch prey. They're stocky birds with large heads and strong beaks, about the size of a crow.

In Australian culture, kookaburras are beloved and appear in songs, stories, and folklore. You might know the children's song that begins, “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he.” Their “laughter” often marks the beginning and end of the day in the Australian bush, making them one of the continent's most recognizable birds.