The Funniest Bird You’ve Ever Seen

The silly English word “kook” probably comes from the sound of the Cuckoo bird, but it may also derive from the hilarious little bird from Down Under called the Kookaburra.

It’s an indigenous name from the Wiradjuri language (a tribe in northern Australia), whose pronunciation has been anglicized: guuguubarra. The name itself shows how fun this bird is! Either that or the Wiradjuri have a tremendous sense of humor.

In the West, the kookaburra’s sound has sometimes been featured in scary jungle scenes of Tarzan-style movies and such, and it could be interpreted as spooky – but don’t let Hollywood affect your judgement about this funny little guy.

Someone once described him as a “laughing maniac.” That he is. And loud too!

Kookaburras are medium-sized kingfishers (standing between 11” and 19”), and they hunt in forests rather than water. They eat insects and small animals like rodents, reptiles, and amphibians. They’ve been known to kill snakes and at times pilfer food stocks of humans too. They’re pretty proficient at their job.

But they don’t take themselves too seriously either, as you’ll see from the one-minute video.

If you haven’t had a good laugh today, this should do it for you. Enjoy!

Feature photo by Glen Wright, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons